


Not Worth the Views

by starburrst



Category: Resident Evil, Resident Evil 7 - Fandom
Genre: During Game, Self Insert, Slow Build, pre game, reader - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-09-26 23:14:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 53,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9928274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starburrst/pseuds/starburrst
Summary: You're recording a YouTube video with your friend Zach when everything goes to shit. And it was a normal Tuesday, until then.





	1. Chapter 1

"I don't know about this."

"When are you sure about anything?"

"All the time, every single time in fact, when it has something to do with you and your 'explorations'."

"Shut up and turn on the fuckin' GoPro."

"Why is it strapped to my head? I look ridiculous."

"Who's going to see you anyway? Besides me."

The dry leaves crunched loudly under their feet. 

"Is it on?"

"Yes, Zach."

"This is gonna get so many views."

The gates of the house were locked by a padlock. It wasn't that rusted, even though the house had been abandoned for years.

"Luckily, I came prepared." 

A pair of wire cutters snapped the chain attached to the gate and padlock off and it fell to the ground with a thud. A family of crows in a nearby tree fled at the sound. 

"This is the elusive Baker home, who's residents went missing three years ago. But why? That's what I'm here to find out."

"Subscribe to PewDiePie."

"I'm editing that out."

Throwing the gates open the pair approached the derelict house. A swift breeze cut through the pathway, causing them to shiver.

"Maybe we should check that other pathway out first?"

"But the house is right here."

"Shitting yourself already?"

"I didn't know cameras could talk."

"Don't objectify me, Zachary."

"Ok, mom."

The pair turned around and continued on the other trail. When they came to a circle of animal legs bound together with barbed wire and soaked in blood, they re-thought their decision. 

"Let's keep going, maybe there's more of this creepy shit."

Nonetheless they continued. Dropping from a ledge, they discovered another, smaller house.

Zach knocked on the front door, half expecting it to fall off its hinges. He smirked. 

"No ones home."

Turning the knob, the pair entered. The old door slammed behind them. Zach blamed it on the wind from earlier. 

"Ok people, we've infiltrated the house. Just look at this place-"

Zach picked up an empty photo frame from a shelf.

"- a picture perfect home, no?"

"I'm editing that out."

A creak resonated through the building. It seemed to have come from upstairs. 

"Maybe I was wrong about no one being home."

Moving quickly through the hall and kitchen, the young explorers were at the bottom of the staircase. 

"We should split up."

"What am I supposed to record?"

"Anything you find. But we both know you just like staring at me, so-"

"I'll go upstairs."

The camerawoman walked up the stairs slowly and Zach went down the second hallway. 

"Scream if you're dying."

The woman rolled her eyes and continued on. 

"I can't wait to get this thing off my head."

Adjusting the headband she searched the upstairs. Nothing unusual, as expected. A phone sitting on a cabinet that seemed to be still active looked weird. Picking it up she heard nothing. She set it back down and turned around to see

Still nothing. 

Sighing, she tried the door at the back of the room. It was locked. 

"What a waste of footage."

She nearly tripped over herself when she noticed a doll on the ground behind her. It was a little girl with black hair and a blue dress. It had a note on it:

"Family"

The camerawoman set the doll down beside the phone. 

"It must've been one of the Baker's kids' toys."

The stairs made distressing sounds as she descended them and looked for her friend. 

"Zach, I found a creepy doll but that's it. What did you-"

Black goo was spread out in long skinny tendrils all over the floor at the end of the hall, covering the door there. The girl's eyes widened. 

"Uh..."

Slugs? she thought. 

"Snails. Snails make trails..."

She opened another door to a sitting room. A tv played static and the air was heavy. 

"Zach I wanna leave now."

She said as she spotted her companion sitting on the couch. 

"I know you'll call me a pussy, but, I don't care."

She said this with a nervous chuckle as she placed her hand on his shoulder tentatively. He felt cold and stiff. 

Zach fall backwards, speechless. The girl's mouth dropped. 

"Zach? Zach, I, what's wrong?!"

Mimicking her, Zach's mouth dropped open, and cockroaches started crawling out of it. The girl screamed and also fell backwards, landing on her backside. 

"Oh my g-go... Holy fuck!"

The bugs multiplied to centipedes, and ants, and so many that the girl couldn't identify them all anymore. They seemed to crawl towards her and close in. 

"No! No-- Oh my GOD! HELP! HE--"

•

For the most part, the darkness you were used to was really just a near-black shade of grey. Almost there but not quite. A lamp on in the distance, light pollution and moonlight all diluted the true darkness of the darkness. This colour was inky black. Intense - the blackest black. Vantablack? 

You groaned, and your eyes felt heavy and sore. You put a hand to your head to relieve the building headache. Your mouth was dry and the air was still heavy. Opening your eyes slightly you saw the flicker of a flame. "Oh, she's awake Jack. What will we do what will we do?!" A woman screamed, panicking. "Now calm down Marguerite. We'll just throw her in with the other one." A man spoke. The other one? 

You noticed the headband you were wearing was no longer on you. Still rubbing your head slowly, your hair was in a knotty mess. What happened?

Zach - where was he? "Z-za.." Your words clawed their way out of your scratchy throat. The others in the room took notice of you. "I want her gone! I want her gone gone GONE!!" The woman screeched. Does she ever shut up? You opened your eyes further to see a room covered in candles. It looked like a dining room. You were lying on the floor. You put your arms underneath you and tried to push yourself up. Your joints begged you to stop as they felt like cement. This aggravated the already clearly pissed off woman. She ran over to you and kicked you in the stomach, knocking you against a wall. "Aw cmon now Marguerite," The man's footsteps drew near, "I'll get Lucas to put her in with Mia." The woman's breathing was shaky. Currently, you didn't care what her deal was, as you were trying to fill your lungs back up with air. The bitch had knocked the wind out of you and every breath drew a groan. "Don't mention that whore's name in this house," the woman said lowly, "Eveline needs to know who can actually take care of her like a proper mamma." The lady then stormed out of the room, slamming a door behind her with such great force you're surprised it didn't fall off the hinges. 

You looked up and saw a large man approach you. Your first instinct was to get up and run, but you could barely sit up, so that option flew out the window. He grabbed you roughly by the arm and pulled you off the floor. 

"Now you're gonna stay locked up all nice an' quite, ya hear? Otherwise I will tear you limb from limb." His deep and menacing voice frightened you. You tried to find something to say. "Where's my friend? Zach?" You said quietly as if anything louder would set the man off. He threw his head back and laughed. You shuddered as he answered. "That skinny boy from the guest house? He's Marguerites now." Somehow you knew this wasn't good. "W-what-- I need to-" The man threw you on to the floor again, near a doorway. "Enough squakin'! Lucas you sombitch get down here!" He shouted. There wasn't a reply. Looking up once more you saw a large hallway. There were two staircases on either side and lots of doors. Photo frames decorated the walls, along with some of the same black goo from earlier. As you were ok the floor a cockroach climbed out of your sleeve and scurried away. 

The man was furious with not getting a reply. "The disrespect in this household." He picked up a shovel that seemed to come from no where and grabbed your arm again, yanking you back up. "Guess I'll have to take you myself."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my tumblr is plastic-dare if you want to follow:^)

In films and such the main hero can easily find their way out of a sticky situation by remembering the route their captor took. Unfortunately, the towering monster that calls himself Jack knocked you out after introducing himself. So you woke up in yet another unfamiliar room. The terror that you had experienced in such a short space of time was making you shiver. 

Jack threw the large shovel he had taken with him onto the ground. The loud bang made tears sting your eyelids as you closed them shut rapidly. They had been building up ever since you realised where you were. 

A hellhole. 

Actual hell. Stuff you would see in horror films, except you didn't feel like the lucky protagonist that escapes. The walls were covered in rust and that God forsaken black goop. Everything was dirty and smelled of rot and something else rancid that you didn't want to know about. Jack had been so kind as to leave you standing and not throw you about again. 

He pointed across the room to an out-of-place looking cell. There was a crude bed frame and mattress in there. "This is where you're staying put." Jack spit the 't' of put and you winced. "Don't even think of tryin- of tryna leave." He said, genuinely enraged. He threw open the door of the cell and you started shaking. Was this where you were going to rot away, along with the house, never knowing what happened to Zach? Is he even still alive? The thought of Zach being dead made more tears build up and eventually fall down your face. Jack ignored your crying state and shoved you into the cell. You stumbled a bit but kept balance. He slammed the door shut and locked it tightly with a padlock. "I'll bring you food until we find a use for you. If we don't, it's lights out," Jack said menacingly as he turned to leave, "or worse." He picked up his shovel and disappeared into the darkness. 

A loud whimper fell out of you and you covered your mouth. You couldn't help but start bawling. This had to be a dream and you would wake up soon, right? It was all happening so fast. Misery was hanging over you and all you wanted was to smash the steel bars and run. 

In the midst of your crying you heard shuffling beside you. Looking at the bed you noticed a woman you hadn't seen before. She was very pale and thin, with long brown hair. She seemed to have been asleep and your altercation with Jack had woken her. You felt bad, maybe she was having a nice dream. 

"Who are you." She stated this more than asked it in a soft but suspicious voice. You choked back tears to tell her your name. She fell back into the bed and you could've sworn she switched back to being asleep. "I'm... Mia." And she did. She fell straight back asleep. You were sad because you thought you had found a companion. Maybe she was as crazy as Jack and Marguerite. 

•

Lucas sat back in his chair after fiddling with the GoPro for a while. He couldn't find a cable to connect it to his computer. He threw it behind him, nearly landing it into a bin. "Useless junk," he said, rising from his desk, "thanks Dad." He yawned and stretched, walking out of his room to find something better to do. Maybe someone new had stumbled in and he could have some fun. He was wondering where the GoPro came from, although Jack didn't give him an explanation (he walked in and threw it at Lucas' head, then left). 

The decaying floorboards bent under Lucas' feet when he made his way towards the main hall. He whistled the tune to an indiscernible song until something out of a window caught his eye. He walked over and saw Marguerite dragging something - somebody - behind her towards the old house. A smile grew on Lucas' face. It immediately collapsed into a frown. "Well he's fucked. Now I won't have any fun. No way in hell would mama let me have him." Lucas shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and walked on.

• 

 

You slowly banged your head against the bars of the cell. On the table in the room outside you could see a pair of bolt cutters taunting you. Jack had decided to put a chain on the door to compliment the padlock. You had been in there for about eight hours by yourself, only thinking of house to get out and where Zach was. Mia has been asleep the entire time. To be fair, she did look rougher than you, and she deserved a good rest. You started making a personality up for her in your head as you couldn't get to know her any other way. In your mind she was a great cook. 

A loud clank rang around the room as a door was opened somewhere. You stopped banging your head to listen to approaching footsteps. Was it Jack again, or Marguerite? You gripped the bars of the cell door so tightly your knuckles turned white. You'd hoped they would have brought you food at some point but you were left to starve. Maybe this was dinner time. 

"Oh no, they got you."

A completely new person walked into the room. She was pale and had short brown hair. She also looked very tired. You didn't say anything. 

"I saw you walkin' into the guest house yesterday. I tried to stop you but by the time I noticed you and your friend you'd already gone in. Then it's too late for anybody..." She said ominously. The woman walked closer to you. "I'm Zoe." 

You looked her up and down. She seemed nice enough, and not insane like the other two. In a moment of desperation you took a chance. 

"Please, please get me out of here!"

Zoe's eyes filled with sympathy. "I'll try. I don't know, I- I need to get out of here too." The tears started welling up again. Zoe looked over at the workbench and spotted the bolt cutters. "You can't get out of here without daddy findin' out," Zoe grabbed the tool from the desk, "but it's a risk you gotta take. I think your friend is still alive somewhere." She snapped the chain off and decided to improvise and whack the padlock off with a surprising amount of force. Zoe was stronger than she looked. Besides this act of kindness, you couldn't leave something unquestioned. "'Daddy?'" You quoted. "Is this... are those people your family?" You suddenly became more suspicious of her and a bit frightened. Your body language showed this and Zoe sighed. "They used to be, until they... changed. I'll explain it all later. Listen, I'm not like them. I want to help you." She was the one who seemed desperate now. You looked over at Mia. "What about her?" "You gettin' out is bad, but Mia leavin' would send my mama and daddy into a rampage. C'mon we ain't got any time to lose." Zoe swung the cage door open and started walking towards a door. You have a final look to Mia and followed, shutting the door behind you. 

Zoe didn't give you a tour of the place. She was dead set on getting somewhere. "Take this." She said suddenly, handing you a pocket knife. You looked down at it in your hands. The guilt of leaving Mia behind was playing in the back of your conscience. "You'll be needin' that at any moment, I won't sugar coat it. This place is hell on Earth." Everything she said about the house was negative and you could feel hope slipping away. "Will I have to fight someone?" You asked innocently. Zoe looked at your over her shoulder. "More than likely." You put the knife in the back pocket of your jeans. You wanted to ask if you'd have to kill anyone, but in a place like this it seemed a rhetorical question. 

Zoe was bringing you through the main hall. It looked almost untouched by time, no strange mood or decay, but it was a bit messy. Magazines and other papers were sprawled out on the cupboards and tables. A single fan spun slowly in the middle of the room. "Do you know anything about my friend Zach?" You asked, half curious, half wanting to keep the conversation going. You hated silences. 

"I only saw you walk into the house. Again, it was a split-second moment. Must've missed him." Your heart sank. You hoped he'd be ok. He put up a hard-man front but you knew he was a softie inside. You wrapped your arms around yourself as Zoe started searching for something in one of the cabinets. "Damn, I saw daddy writin' somethin' down here earlier on... he looked angry, and if daddy's angry it about something important." Zoe remarked, half-smiling, as if she was remembering something. The house creaked and groaned and it freaked you out a lot. You felt that at any moment something would jump out and attack you. 

"Zoe! Zooooe, I know you're in here. Ya left the trailer door open." A man shouted from upstairs. Zoe abandoned her search for whatever it was she was looking for. "Shit, that's my brother. He ain't like me - he's infected. Quick, you gotta hide." Zoe said frantically. You began to panic as the two of you searched for a good hiding spot. "Behind here!" Zoe quickly pulled a cabinet near the front door out so it stuck out past the corner. You helped her push and then hid behind it as Zoe tried to act normal. 

"There you are. I need somethin' from ya." A man leaned over the balcony from above. You tried to make yourself as small and as still as possible so he wouldn't spot you. "What is it, Lucas?" Zoe asked flatly. "Well, two things actually. You know what happened with that guy I saw mama draggin' around?" Lucas asked. Zoe raised an eyebrow. You nearly gasped. Zach was ok? You wished you could stand up and ask Lucas about him. "No." she said. Lucas stood up from leaning on the railing. "Fair enough," He descended the stairs on the left, "But I also wanted to know if you got any candles." He said. Risking a peek (curiosity killed the cat), you slowly looked around the corner of the cabinet. Lucas was tall and pale, much like his sister. He had a navy blue hoody with the hood pulled up over his head. From what you could tell, his face was really defined. Stubble grew on it and his eyes were an almost icy blue. "Candles? You have a date or somethin' later?" Zoe mocked, crossing her arms. She didn't seem as hostile towards Lucas as she did her parents. He also didn't seem aggressive like them, either. Maybe him and Zoe were more alike than she knew. 

Lucas laughed, throwing his head back. "Boy I wish. But they're for... an idea I have in mind. You got 'em or not?" Lucas asked. Zoe shook her head. "Check the basement or whatever, I'm busy." Zoe said, trying to get rid of him. This only caught Lucas' interest. "Doin' what?" he asked. If you didn't know about the crazy shit that was happening here you'd swear they were normal siblings. You had a gut feeling that the 'idea' Lucas has wasn't an especially pleasant one, as well. Sticking to the back of the cupboard, you continued listening to their conversation. 

"None of your business." Zoe sounded slightly annoyed. You held you breath as the floorboards creaked and Lucas stepped closer to the both of you. "I'd like to make it my business, thank you very much." The first half of his sentence sounded almost sinister. "You don't tell me about your projects, I'm not tellin' you 'bout mine." Zoe said, turning back to the cabinet from before and searching again. Lucas suddenly hopped up on the one you were hiding behind, his back to you, sitting comfortably. "I'm bored, though." Lucas whined in a child-like tone. "Go look for those candles." It was weird how Lucas' tone shifted so rapidly. Lucas sighed heavily and jumped off the cabinet again. "Fine. But I will find out what you're up to." Lucas said as he walked away, hands shoved into his jacket pocket and whistling. After a moment Zoe spoke up. "Coast is clear. Come on out and help me look."

You don't think your heart rate was every this high. You could hear the blood pumping in your ears as you slowly rise from the ground. You joined Zoe at the cabinet. "What are we looking for?" "A note, any piece of paper with handwritin' on it." Zoe said as she shuffled a pile of paper. You barely touched a drawer when she held one up. "A-ha! Got it!" She was smiling at the yellowed page in her hand. "What is it?" You asked. "It's a note from daddy, about some ingredients..." You looked at the page. 

Marguerite,

Our delight of a daughter ZOE got it into her head she can "fix" us. She found the head with the instructions for the serum on it. Make sure you lock that arm up tight in Eveline's room so she don't get it. 

\- Jack 

All of this was very confusing to you, but very useful to Zoe. "That's it," she explained, "This is what I need to help my family. I damn near picked this place apart lookin' for that arm. Now I know where it is, at least." Her smile faltered a bit. "The old house... mama's place. It's infested with every kinda insect out there. It'll be hard to get the arm..." You didn't know what the hell she was on about. "An arm? What's- What exactly is going on here?" The ever-present bubble of fear started to rise in your chest again. Zoe looked at you as she pocketed the note. "I'll explain everything, in the trailer, let's-" "WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?!"

You and Zoe both shot around. Jack had returned and found you missing. Just like Zoe had predicted, he was not happy. "Oh fuck, ok, oh shit." Zoe was panicking, which made you panic. Goosebumps crawled on your skin as Jack shouted. Zoe grabbed your arm and headed for the front door. "C'mon, this way." The door was already open, so you and her ran out. Suddenly a devastating shake rocked the house and the door shut behind her, nearly severing your arms in the process. You were left behind in the house, trapped once again. "Oh no." Zoe said. You started having trouble breathing as another bone rattling shake erupted from under the house. "You GODDAMN BITCH! Get BACK HERE!" Jack roared. Zoe looked at you. "Run. Run through them doors there an' don't look back. Just keep goin' till you find some place to hide. I'll try and get back to you. You gotta go, you gotta go!" With that Zoe reluctantly ran off herself, into the night. You nearly screamed as the tears that have been building up for hours fell down your face like waterfalls. You were frozen in place until another shake, louder and closer, banged. Fight or flight kicked in (luckily, it was flight) and you ran towards a set of double doors behind you. Being extra careful you shut them and sprinted to your right. A long hallway with wooden scaffolding was in front of you. You didn't notice but it had started to rain earlier, which made the floor nearly flooded. Thankfully you didn't slip and managed to find a room you could potentially hide in. It looked like some sort of bar, with a large pool table in the middle. You couldn't see anywhere decent to hide until you spotted another door at the end. You ran towards it without hesitation and shut the door. You crouched down in a corner and tried to control your breaths to make them quieter. The tears kept streaming down your face but you started to become relatively calmer, as much as you could in a situation like this. You heart was beating rapidly like when Lucas was around. 

Loud footfalls banged on the ground around the house. You knew it was Jack looking for you. "Where did you get to?!" Jack half-shouted. He stalked the hallways and searched rooms until he was in the bar. He sniffed the air like a dog and laughed. "You in here? You better be wishin' you'd a stead where you were right now." You could hear him getting closer and closer to the little room you were in. You swallowed hard and held your breath again. Jack slowly walked towards your door. His breathed was loud and jagged, much like any angry person's would be. He closed his palm around the door knob and twisted it. This had to be it, didn't it? This is how you go. You started thinking about your family, your friends, Zach. Maybe he was still alive and would get out of here. You hoped he would so he could tell everyone what happened to you. And maybe you wouldn't be a missing person forever. You were sure at this point someone would have reported you two as missing. You'd hoped. Jack opened the door and peered in. He turned his head to look around to your corner--

"Dad, we got any candles?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to keep the characters as accuarate as possible, sorry if they seem OOC!

Every thing and every one in the Baker home froze at this moment. 

"What?"

"Candles, we got any?"

Jack stood up straight, his fists clenched tight, one holding the shovel he had earlier. 

"I don't fuckin' KNOW, LUCAS." Jack turned around to face his son. You peeked over the desk and out the window of the room. Lucas has a bored expression. You were still shaking. 

"I'm a little busy lookin' for a bitch that got outta her cell." Jack's enormous stature could be fully seen now as he towered over Lucas, who was tall himself. "Mia got out? All she does is sleep." Jack resisted driving the shovel through Lucas' abdomen. "No, not- it doesn't fucking matter, Lucas. Get outta my way." Jack then stormed off out of the room. You could have sighed in relief if Lucas wasn't still there. "Figures. Should never ask that old man for anythin'." He said to himself and walked away. When you didn't hear any more noise you let out the sigh you'd been holding in. You stood up, legs swaying a bit, and put your hands down on the desk. You doubted the pocket knife was going to do much good against the likes of Jack or Lucas. Although Lucas didn't seem like a threat, Zoe did say he wasn't quite right. You couldn't rule it out. You decided to search for something - anything, really, that might help you. Opening the drawers in the desk you found nothing but old letters and a gross pair of dentures. You looked behind you to the bed and more cabinets. 

You opened the cabinet and to your luck you found a handgun. You'd never shot anything other that a camera before, but you figured it was the same. Just point and shoot, right? You tried to figure out where the bullets went and saw they came out the bottom of the handle. The clip only had two, but you could find more if you scavenged harder. Maybe I should go back to the foyer, try to find a way to open the door, you thought. You wanted to but you didn't know where Jack was. However, you knew you couldn't stay in this room forever, so you forced yourself out into the bar. This time you took a left and found another hallway. "This might lead back to the front." You said to yourself. You would rather claw your way out of the house and run, maybe hop the fence in the other hallway, but the heavy rain would stop you. And you still needed to find Zach. After you get back in touch with Zoe, that's the first thing you'll do. And get some answers. 

You creeped along the halls, listening out for any signs of life. You noticed some doors with strange wreaths on them but decided to just move on instead of questioning anything right now. You made it back to the foyer in one piece but nearly jumped out of your skin when a phone rang. It was ok the cupboard you were hiding behind earlier. You hesitantly picked it up because you had nothing to lose and were delighted to hear Zoe on the other end. 

"Hello, you there?" She said. "Yes I'm here. Zoe, what the hell is going on?" You asked. You could hear her sigh. "Listen, I can't get back to the house right now. Daddy came out to check on me and is keepin' an eye. At least he's out here and not in there," You were slightly thankful for that, "But anyway... my family, they're, they're sick. They've been infected with somethin' unnatural. I wish I could say more, but I don't want anyone listenin' in. It's just Lucas in the house with you now. He can be very unpredictable so watch out. Don't try and come out, just find somewhere to lay low. Once the rain lets up and daddy leaves I'll come an' get you." Zoe hung up after that, not giving you a chance to ask any further questions. You still held the phone to your ear after she left. You hated being alone. You did like your own company, on your own terms, but you didn't think anyone would like to be alone in a situation like this. The handgun you picked up was still in your other hand. You put the phone down and took a deep breath. You may as well find somewhere to stay for a while, since it's too dangerous to leave. Turning around and looking everywhere in the foyer, you decided to start downstairs. You walked to the back of the room and through a door on the left. There was another hallway with a door at the end of it. 

The laundry room fucking stank. Honestly, that's what it was. Smelly and gross. You wish you had a peg for your nose as you closed the door behind you. You also wished you didn't have to do that because it ventilated the place. After forcing yourself to let go of your nose and at least try to adjust to the smell, you began exploring once again. You found five more handgun bullets on a pile of laundry that looked like it'd never been touched. You put them in the good so badly that any child with a copy of Call of Duty would have hung their head in shame. The room was actually really big for being a place to wash clothes. A table was in the middle, the wood rotting. You weren't even surprised at this point. 

You thought back to what Zoe said. Lucas was infected with whatever it was the family was infected with. You guessed this is what made them go crazy. She also said he was unpredictable, which you could believe, since he changed his moods so quickly. You put the handgun in between your belt as jeans as a sort of make shift holster. You had to admit, you felt like a cowboy. Looking through the room further you saw many blood stains of many shades and you shuddered at the thought of what goes on here. You also found a strange herb, with a little note attached. 

For healing. Combine with chem fluid!

Chem fluid? What's that? You placed the herb on the table and made it a point to get some chem fluid. You searched all the cupboards and washing machines, even dryers and questionable laundry baskets, but didn't find any chem fluid. You did, however, find a bottle of medicine. The instructions on the back said to pour it over a wound for healing. You didn't have any damage yet, so you decided to save it for later. Maybe this is what came from a herb and chem fluid? Wanting to find out for sure, you went back out into the hallway. You turned right and stopped dead in your tracks. Lucas was at the other end, rewiring some sort of device. At least it looked like rewiring, he was just going ham at it with a screwdriver. Unfortunately your habit of closing doors behind you bit you in the ass as it alerted Lucas to your presence. You booth stood staring at each other for a good five seconds. You were praying the flight mode would start again and you were right. You darted off down the hallway you came from and back into the foyer. You didn't know what good this would do as Lucas seemed smarter than Jack, less of a brute who smashed everything. 

To mix things up a bit you chanced running up the stairs to find somewhere to hide. You didn't even hear Lucas run after you but you weren't taking chances. He can be very unpredictable. Zoe's voice repeated in your head. You were on the last step when something grabbed your ankle and you fell, nearly smashing your face off the ground. Your right arm broke your fall and you yelped out in pain. 

"Well lookie here. This is what pops musta been talkin' about earlier." Lucas said as he dragged you towards him, your backside hitting every step. The loomed over you like a statue. The unbearable fear was creeping back up your spine. A smile was stretched across his face. You couldn't tell if he was genuinely happy or sadistically pleased. You kicked your legs, trying to get out of his insanely strong grip. He did let go, but stead grabbed your arms and pinned them against the stairs in the most uncomfortable position. You still struggled, hopelessly trying to free yourself. "P-please let me go!" You screamed. Lucas simply laughed. "But we could have so much fun!" He looked menacing. He really was ever-changing; when he was around family he seemed normal. This was either him showing his true colours, or an act. It was impossible to tell which one. Sweat began forming on your forehead. You had let your guard down for one second, and looked what happened. There was no point in arguing with yourself now. You needed to get out. "Stop your wigglin', I ain't gonna hurt ya," You doubted this, "I just gotta decide what I wanna do." Lucas looked off into nothing, deep in thought. You continued to thrash about like a fish out of water. "Fuck you." You said bravely. This didn't distract Lucas from his thinking. "Ah, fuck it, maybe I will kill ya." Your eyes widened in disbelief. Lucas saw your reaction and once again erupted with laughter. Your chest was rising and falling quickly as you panicked. "I'm just pullin' your leg. Well, I did, didn't I, literally? Anyway, off we go." Lucas picked you up on the ground and put you over his shoulder. "Wh-what the fuck?!" You shouted. "If you don't quit squirmin' I'll knock your fuckin' light out. Either way you're coming with me." Lucas said. He sounded fed up. You wanted to shout for Zoe, but you knew it would be useless, and it would probably annoy Lucas further. You continued struggling even after Lucas told you to stop, but you grew tired and slowed down. Combined with the lack of food, not having slept for the last twelve hours was taking its toll. You found yourself drifting in an out of sleep as Lucas carried you through the house. At one point you swore you saw the mould on the walls move. 

Eventually, you gave in to sleep. You really didn't want to and it really wasn't your choice, but it happened nonetheless.

Lucas walked on towards his room. Abandoning his old one after Eveline came, Lucas set up in his workshop. It was hidden behind one of the walls in the basement. The groaning and whines of the Molded echoed throughout the place. Lucas was glad he was infected, only for the reason they wouldn't hurt him. Opening the door to his room he half-threw the girl onto his bed. She was lucky he just changed the sheets. He sighed and sat down in his chair in front of the many monitors. "What the fuck am I gonna do with you?" He asked, rolling over in his wheelie chair to the bed. You were in a dead sleep. He grabbed a metal rod and poked your cheek with it. "Maybe I can throw you a little party, hm?" He pondered. "I won't use the candles for the first run. Can't fuckin' find them anyway." He pushed the chair away from you and back to his desk full of screens. He switched all of them to the 'Party Room'. "Sure would be funny to watch. Well, not for you." Lucas chuckled to himself. You obviously didn't respond and Lucas groaned. He was unbelievably bored. "C'mon DO SOMETHIN'!" Lucas shouted at you. You stirred but didn't wake up. Lucas groaned again and put his face in his hands. 

"Maybe I'll give Zoe a ring." He said as he picked up a phone on his desk. He dialled the number and waited for his sister to pick up. She did with a cautious "Hello?" Lucas smiled to himself. "Zoe, Zoe Zoe Zoe." There was silence on the other end. "I found your prooooojeeeeect." Lucas taunted with a laugh. Still silence. "Mmm-MM! I got you good, din' I?" "Lucas-" "Am I gonna hear a 'please don't hurt her, Lucas, she's my frieeeeeend!'?" Zoe sighed. "Lucas, just do one thing for me, if there's any sane part a' you left." Lucas' mischievous smile faded. 

"Don't hurt me."

Zoe hung up. Lucas blinked. He got the message. He set the phone back in the holder and looked over to you. Rising from his chair he went to a locker across the room and took a chain out of it. He stood with it in his hand before turning back to you. "Alright, better make sure you don't try to run," Lucas' erratic behaviour slid its way back in. One end of the chain had a cuff on with and the other could be attached to something. 

"And, what's your goddamn name?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of long so I've broken it into two parts. The next part should be up tomorrow!

Your own hunger pains woke you up. You remembered Jack saying he'd bring you food whilst in the cell but that was bullshit. You rolled onto your side and your nose nearly touched Lucas' own. Your eyes shot open and you screamed, scooting backwards on... the bed? Wait, where the fuck are you?

Lucas, hood still up, smiled broadly. "Rise and shine, sleepy head! It's a brand new day... I think. I don't actually have the time." The hood made him creepier. You glanced to your left and noticed the door to this room was open. Maybe you could stick to your policy of 'running for you fucking life'. You decided to chance it because you had nothing to lose, but you were yanked back onto the bed. A sharp pain stung your right ankle, right into the bone. You shouted in pain and grabbed it. There was a metal cuff around it with a chain attached to the bed frame. How did the bed not move as you bolted off? You looked at the legs and saw they were bolted to the floor. Confused and scared, you looked back up to Lucas, who was laughing. 

"Did you- did you think? Ha! D'you really think I'm that dumb?" You didn't think he was dumb - you thought he may be the smartest man you'd ever met, in the worst way possible. "No, no, no, no..." Lucas stood up and wagged his finger at you. "You ain't goin' anywhere just yet. Don't think Zoe is happy 'bout it, but what can she do." You pretended to ignore him as you pulled at the shackle in vain. Lucas rolled his eyes. "Did you not just hear me, baby?" You skin crawled at the pet name. "That's not my name..." You said as you continued trying to escape. Lucas smirked. He'd gotten the reaction he wanted. "No, course it ain't. So what is it?" You furrowed your eyebrows. You didn't really want to tell him. Something in your gut made you, though, as you figured it would end badly. After a bit of a pause you said, "It's-" "GoPro!" You raised an eyebrow. "I- what?" "You're the chick that owns the GoPro, right?" Lucas asked. You were slightly confused, very annoyed. "Uh, yeah." You said. Lucas put his hands on his hips. "Damn, may as well call you that from now on." He said. "Call me-" "Call you GoPro." You couldn't believe what was coming out of his mouth. "No, my name is-" "GooooProoooo." You became increasingly more annoyed by the second. "My fucking NAME is--" "Ah-ah-ah." Lucas pressed a finger onto your lips. "Don' really care anymore. I'll just call you seven." You wanted to recoil back into the wall with Lucas' finger still on your mouth. "'Cause, you know, if you're lucky enough you'll be the seventh person I get to play with." You had a feeling he didn't mean the fun type of 'play'. Lucas lifted his hand from your face and you quickly wiped it on your arm when he turned around. 

"Where's Zoe?" You asked. Lucas sat down in his wheelie chair and started typing on a keyboard. "Don't know." He said plainly. You wanted to throw something at him but even if you wanted to you couldn't. Lack of food was making you very weak and that attempt of running off earlier used up your energy. You hung your head as you sat on the side of the bed. How long was Lucas planning on keeping you chained up here? You rattled the chain at your feet and Lucas glanced over to you. 

"Is the puppy hungry?" He said. You nearly growled at him but that would probably just play into his joke. Lucas stood up from his desk and walked over to you. "What d'you want, Seven?" He squatted down in front of you. You don't want to respond to the name but you were so fucking hungry. "Food." You said flatly. Lucas half-smiled. "Food..." he said, prompting for you to continue. You swallowed your pride for the sake of a meal. "Food, please." Lucas tilted his head towards you, to say you had to keep going. What more did he want? "Food, please... Asshole." You spat. "Nuh-uh, wrong. Guess you're gonna have to starve." You gritted your teeth and decided to just go ahead. 

"Food, please, Lucas."

Lucan whistled sharply as he stood up. "I just love how you say my name." He said, leaving the room and shutting the door firmly behind him. You sighed and fell back on the bed, rubbing your hands up and down your face. How am I supposed to get out of this one?, you thought. You still worried about Zach, and Zoe, and sometimes Mia. You did hope she was ok after you left her and Jack went on his rampage. Surely he knew she couldn't have helped you escape. You looked at the phone on Lucas' desk. You thought for a second you could call Zoe but you realised you needed a number, because it was one of those old phones where you spin the numbers in. You did want to ask Lucas about Zach, but you didn't think he knew anything, since he only said he saw his mother bring him somewhere. Lucas is also an asshole and you don't really like talking to him. 

You needed to get out of here and find Zach, no matter how 'fucked' he was, you would go after him and the two of you would leave. Obviously you'd get help, and save Zoe and Mia. Then you'd tell the police to shoot Lucas with a grenade launcher. Sick or not, he was an ass. Your perfect dream world was interrupted by the very man you were fantasising about killing. 

"Grub's up!" Lucas put a tray with a plate on it beside you. You looked at the food half excited to finally eat something, only you didn't know what the fuck was on the plate. It was a brown goop of.. something, with white things sticking out of it in places. You nearly gagged as you moved away from it. "Oh my- what the fuck is that?" You said. "That right there's my mama's cookin'. What, you don't like it or something? You haven't even tried it!" Lucas said. You have seen some shit during your time here but you never thought mysterious jelly would be an option for dinner. You poked it with the fork on the tray and you couldn't sworn it tried to poke back. "I can't eat that shit, it's disgusting." Lucas put his hands in his pockets. "I know, but it's all we got, so eat up." "I'd rather starve." Some part of Lucas' mind made him not want to let that happen. Maybe it was because he wanted to help Zoe out, or because he'd be even more bored if you died. Either way he decided to pick up the tray and fork. "Jus' remember you brought this on yourself." He said as he scooped a forkful of the goo. "What do you-" You couldn't finish your sentence because Lucas had jammed the fork of jelly into your mouth. You screamed and tried to kick Lucas away (which was becoming a worrying theme). He wouldn't budge and drove the fork further into your mouth. The texture of the gross "food" was absolutely vile - not to mention the flavour, which was a mix of expired meat and dirt. "Eat up, Seven. It's one of your five-a-day." Lucas said, putting the tray back down on the bed but never letting go of the fork. You resisted it as long as you could. This seemed to piss Lucas off. "Oh, fuck this." Lucas reached in with his other hand and pinched your nose, making you gasp for air and accidentally swallow the slop. Once you realised you had eaten it you started coughing and gagging. "That's it, nothin' to it. Not used to swallowin', eh?" Lucas teased. This made you gag even more and you swatted at him as if he was a giant bug. You managed to slap his arm pretty hard which for you was a small victory. Lucas pulled the fork out of your mouth and threw it onto the tray. The aftertaste it left in your mouth was almost unbearable. 

"Eat up more if you don't wanna starve." You wanted to throw the entire dish at him. "Don't do that again." You spat angrily. "I won't if you eat on your own, Seven." You frowned at the nickname. 

•

"Oooh, it's ok, baby." Marguerite cooed as she stroked Zach's hair. "Let it all out now." Zach was hunched over a hole in the ground inside the old house. He was projectile vomiting various insects. "What the FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?!" He cried in between hurls. Marguerite continued to hold Zach in a motherly hug. "This is the worst part," she laughed almost viscously, "but you gotta let her all in." She duh her long nails into Zach's shoulders. He had been puking for god knows how many hours now. It finally ceased after another half an hour. Zach coughed and coughed until a centipede that was lodged in his throat came out. "That's it. C'mon, let's get you to bed now. I'll bring you some a' my special soup, jus' for you." Marguerite practically yanked Zach off the ground. If she was trying to be maternal she was failing. Zach felt tears brimming his eyelids. "Tell me where my friend is." Zach tried to pull away from Marguerites weirdly strong grip. This didn't sit well with her. Marguerite flipped Zach around to face her. She grabbed his shoulders and twisted her fingers into the muscle, nearly breaking the skin. "That... that BITCH is WHERE SHE BELONGS! My Jack took care of her, don't you worry boy. She was never gonna be apart of this family, but you... you're gonna be her big brother." Zach began shaking. "What do you m-mean?" He pleaded. Marguerite growled and threw him up the stairs. "ENOUGH ABOUT HER! GIT INTO YOUR ROOM NOW, BOY!"

•

Your ankle was nearly raw at this point. It was red and skin was peeling. You wished the shackle at least had some padding. 

Lucas had left you alone for a while now. He kept going on about candles. You felt as if your head was going to explode if you heard "I gotta get it perfect!" one more time. One half of you didn't really care what he wanted candles for, the other was terrified, because you knew it'd be something fucked up. In fact you realised you seemed to not care about a lot of things since you got chained to this bed. Maybe the boredom was driving you insane too. Is being bored and scared shitless at the same time possible?

You heard loud banging in the hallway outside and you figured it was Lucas coming back. You wanted to pretend to be asleep so you wouldn't have to deal with him for another while longer, but you wanted to gamble on the fact he might have something interesting to say. You doubted it. 

"You up? You better be. I gotta surprise for you." Lucas said as he peered in the doorway. His hood was down this time, and from he light shining in behind him his cheekbones looked like they could cut glass. Not that it was a compliment from you, you were pretty sure it would go straight to his head if you said it out loud. You didn't respond but stared at him with tired eyes. "Get up now." Lucas walked in and took the chain off your ankle. You reached down and tried to soothe it a bit by rubbing it. "Get up, get up." Lucas said as if he were beckoning you to follow him. Something made you doubt you had a choice in whether you were staying or not. You were right. 

When you stood up Lucas shoved a bag over your head. "Hey- what the--" "Shut up, c'mon." Was all he said. You could practically see his huge smile as he spoke. Lucas pulled a cord on the burlap sack over your head and it tightened around your neck, almost choking you. "We gotta get goin' now." Lucas ordered. He grabbed something - you guessed it was rope, and began to pull you along with him. Lucas hadn't pulled a cord on the bag. He'd put a rope around your neck to pull you along. You choked when he tugged on it hand and you almost fell threw the doorway. You instinctively put your hands out in front of you to stop falling and you landed against a brick wall. 

Lucas tugged and dragged you through a maze for a good ten minutes. You could hear him typing something every so often when you stopped, and then a door opening. He really didn't want you running off anywhere. You couldn't see shit through the bag on your head. "Here we are." Lucas said. You stood still while Lucas went completely silent. You could've sworn he left the room. 

"Boo."

You screamed when Lucas whispered in your ear. He laughed and kicked the back of your knees in, making you fall onto the ground. Lucas loosened the rope around your neck and took the bag off. "Welcome, Seven, to the party of a lifetime!" Lucas threw the bag away and stood above you looking proud of himself. 

You raised yourself off the ground, balancing on your arms. You looked at the discarded back and rope from earlier. Wait a second... was that a noose?!

"Now don't get too excited. It's still a work in progress. And you're gonna be my little lab rat." Lucas reached down and grabbed your wrists. "Time to play!" You'd never seen a man so happy about torture in his life. Your heart started racing as you tried to imagine what was coming up. 

Lucas started dragging you by the wrists towards a door behind him. He kicked it open and swiftly pulled you in. It was pitch dark inside. "Now, I'll tell you what to do, so don't for worryin' your little head." He said. He let go of your wrists and out the door. You leapt up and ran after him, but he shit the door in your face before you could get out. You held onto the mesh wire and gritted your teeth. Lucas smiled. "Good luck." And he walked away. You tightened your grip on the mesh. "Fuck you!" You shouted. You let go of the door and turned around, still angry. "What am I supposed to do now?" You walked forward in the darkness cautiously. You jumped when Lucas' voice rang out over an intercom. "Hello! It's me, Lucas. Y'already knew that, but I just like remindin' ya. Anyway, this here is a special," Lucas began giggling, "soirée I've put together in honour of your arrival. Have a look around, mingle, and don't die or I'll get in trouble." The transmission quickly cut out and the lights came on. You came face to face with the most terrifying clown you've ever seen. You gasped and stepped back, realising it was some sort of robot. It didn't make it any less creepy. There was a table in front of the clown with a piece of paper stapled to it. There was also an inkwell containing black ink beside the page. The clown's left had was in a position to hold a pen. Immediately an idea came into your head. "I need to find a pen?" You said to yourself. Turning round you saw that the room was actually quite big. It was more like a small apartment. You walked through it was saw a small kitchen area, and a lot of tv screens hung up on the wall across the room. They were all off. To your right was another room which had a giant cake on a table. You walked towards it when suddenly it started raining on you. There were sprinklers attached to the ceiling of the doorway. "Damn, now you look like one of those wet rats from the bayou." Lucas announced. You clenched your fists on walked on, pretending it didn't bother you. The cake (which you doubted was real - in fact the icing looked like a white cement mixture) had three tea light candles on it and a sign that said "Happy Fucking Birthday". So this is what Lucas needed the candles for. "I know, I know, the tea lights don't do it justice. I wanted to find some of those big long ones but this was the best I could do. Went into mamma's room lookin' for 'em, didn't want to have to search through those drawers for much longer." Lucas said. You couldn't care less about the types of candles he used. "This part's easy; all you gotta do is find the candle, light it, and put it on the cake." Lucas instructions seemed simple, but that doesn't mean the process wasn't complicated. 

You were more concerned over the pen for the clown, however. If you could find that maybe you would unlock something. A shorter route, who knows. It didn't sit well with you that you just had to find a candle. You opened the drawers of the cabinets in the kitchen looking for the pen. You couldn't find one, and you scoured every inch of the presses. You looked around this room some more before discovering a door you hadn't noticed beside the tv screens. You opened it and were greeted by a room full of grey balloons. How the fuck did Lucas get this many balloons here? You walked through them and the bounced all around you. You allowed yourself a moment of child-like delight before discovering yet another door. This one had a lock on it, a password lock. There was space for five letters. Something made you think the clown outside was going to write the password. Maybe the pen would trigger the robot to turn on. 

Feeling lost your turned around to leave the room again. Then you spotted a bright yellow balloon amongst the colourless ones. You picked it up and shook it. You heard something solid bouncing around inside. You took it outside and held it up to the light. You saw the outline of what looked like a pen. "Ok, good..." You tried untying the knot in the bottom of the balloon but you couldn't. Lucas really had a knack for tying things really tight. 

You regretted saying fuck it and squeezing the balloon to pop it. It burst open and the pen, which you found out was a very sharp pointed quill. And it lodged itself in your left upper arm. "AaaAH FUCK!" You said as you dropped the yellow rubber. Blood raced down your arm from where the quill was stuck. 

"Shit!" Lucas shouted. "Fuck, man, sorry about that. It wasn't supposed to happen, I- shit, just keep goin'." Lucas rushed. His tone confused you, he almost sounded concerned. You realised you had to pull the pen out of your arm to carry on. Clenching your draw you decided to pull it out on the count of three. 

"One...

Two...

Three!"

You don't think you've ever screamed as loudly in your life. You nearly fainted as more blood poured out and you swore you say some squirt out. You swayed a bit but caught yourself on the kitchen counter. "Fuck... f-fuck, oh fuck..." Trudging on, the prospect of this being over with motivating you, you placed the quill in the clown's hand and grabbed your wound. The clown didn't move. 

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to pay more attention to Zach, expect more of him in future chapters!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not gonna lie I wrote some of this on my phone while I was in the gym. I was on a bike though! Still counts as my hour of exercise, right?

Your lip was now bleeding as well as you had bit it so much from the pain. "Work, you stupid machine..." you breathed out. Trying to apply pressure onto your arm didn't really work. The blood kept pouring out and you felt yourself going paler by the minute. The worst part was you were going to bleed out not knowing how to solve this stupid puzzle. 

And you'd be leaving Zach behind.

•

Zach slept on his side, a beetle flowing out of his mouth instead of drool. He was half awake, the feeling of live bugs moving around his intestines keeping him from receiving any sleep. Marguerites "soup" was left untouched on a bedside table. It couldn't go cold anyway because it was like ice when she brought it to him. Zach tried it at least but spat it back out immediately. It quite simply tasted like shit. Marguerite smacked him across the face and stormed out, screaming. 

Zach didn't know where he was. He presumed it was Marguerite's room. There was no furniture other than the double bed he lay in and the bedside table. And a hook on the wall for a lantern Marguerite barely put down. The old house smelled like dirty water, grass and rot. Zach could easily tell he was in a swamp. 

He ran his fingers through his messy brown hair and grabbed handfuls of it. Trying not to puke was very hard and his throat was in agony. He still had no idea what exactly Marguerite did to him. All he remembers is leaving you to investigate the upstairs of the other house. Zach walked into the sitting room and accidentally stepped on a bug. As he was wiping his shoe on the wood to get the goo off, he heard distant running and then something knocked him out. 

Zach woke up in the same place, sitting on the couch though. He called your name a few times but you didn't answer. All of a sudden he felt the urge to vomit, and so he did. But bile didn't come out like normal - cockroaches, millipedes and other creepy crawlies spilled out of his mouth. Zach started to scream when he saw this but also couldn't stop vomiting - he was a mess in a matter of seconds. He fell to the floor and grabbed the edge of the couch tightly. That's when Marguerite made her first appearance; she grabbed his shoulder with one strong hand and hoisted him off the ground. Bugs still leaked from his mouth. He was crying at this point but the sight of the disheveled middle-aged woman frightened him further. The woman smiled in the most creepy way possible and head butted him, knocking him out again. The next time he woke up he was here, in this house that was falling apart. He still couldn't find you. 

Marguerite was cradling Zach in her lap like a baby. "Oh, you're awake, deary," she said, "I'm so sorry for gettin' violent earlier on. I didn't know you were going to be apart a' this family." Marguerite hugged Zach close to her. Zach nearly started hyperventilating. "Wh-who the fuck are you?!" Zach said. "Language! You call me Marguerite, or mama, if you like. Oh, you're not like the others, boy. She let me share my gift with you." Marguerite was purely delighted with Zach. "Mama..?" Zach whispered, confused. Her gift? What was her gift? Zach heard buzzing around him and he looked over Marguerite's shoulder. Giant wasp-like creatures whizzed around. The walls were bursting with wood rot and bugs. "You squished one of my babies, but it's ok, it was an accident, right?" Marguerite nearly squeezed the life out of the young man. It sounded like a "if you don't give me the right answer you will die" kind of question. "Y-yeah an... an accident..." Zach said. Marguerite loosened her grip. "Good, that's what I thought. So I gave you some o' my babies to share." Marguerite grabbed Zach's jaw and he watched in horror as one of the wasp things flew out. It was smaller than the others but Zach thought it was only a newborn, waiting to get bigger. The thought of it growing inside him made him, well, sick. 

•

You had half-dragged yourself through every room in the "party" looking for a way to power the clown. Sometimes you said "Fuck you Lucas.", hoping he would hear. He hadn't been talking to you on the intercom since the pen jammed itself in your arm. 

"I don't know, I don't know! I give up, Lucas!" You said. No response. You groaned, not having enough energy to shout again. Thankfully your wound was not bleeding as much anymore. You were in the room with the cake hopelessly staring at the wall. You were stuck. You honestly had no idea what to do anymore. You were half tempted to pick the scab forming on your arm and let yourself bleed out. It was better than waiting on some psychopath to kill you another way. But not knowing Zach's fate would be an awful thing to die without finding out about. You wanted to believe he was still alive and relatively ok. You shook your head and snapped out of it. "Just keep going." You said to yourself. You were still drenched from those stupid sprinklers that went off every time you walked under them. You looked over at the table on the other side of the room. There was a large barrel with a screw in the bottom of it. "Wait, don't tell me..." You tugged the screw out of the barrel. A liquid started pouring out. It looked and smelled like oil. You stepped out of the way to avoid getting any on yourself, not that it mattered, given you were covered in blood and dirt anyway. You held onto the screw and returned to the clown. 

The clown had a small hole in its belly. You stuck the screw in and began turning, winding it up. "I got it." You said as you let the screw go. The clown spring to life. It's unbroken gaze made you shiver. It put the pen in the black ink and started writing on the page. It spelled out the word "party". "Are you serious?" The clown responded by dropping it's jaw and laughing. You jolted back. Remembering the five-letter lock in the other room, you decided to give it a try. 

As you put in the 'y' the lock clicked open. A small triumphant smile landed on your lips and you took it off and opened the door. There was a single tea light candle sitting on a table inside. "Got a light?" Was written on the wall above it. You took the candle and walked back into the kitchen. 

Using your expert skills, you turned on the stove and lit the candle, nearly burning your fingers. Now was the task of getting it under the sprinklers. You couldn't use your left arm to protect it as it was very weak. You tried bending over and walking with the candle under your belly. Surprisingly it worked, and you sighed in relief as you placed the candle on the cake. 

"I did it. I fucking did it!" You said. You were exhausted yet again. Lucas didn't respond yet again. "Lucas? Lucas for fuck's sake." You said. 

Suddenly, clapping started coming from the intercom. "Well done, bravo. Now let's get ya cleaned up." Lucas sounded weirdly casual. This made you uneasy. You turned around and jumped when you saw Lucas leaning against the doorway behind you. He'd turned the sprinklers off so at least he didn't look like a wet rat. He had his arms folded across his chest and a blank, nearly bored expression on his face. "C'mon." He said simply. You didn't have anything else to do but follow him. 

You left the party room noticing the unusual, almost tense atmosphere. "So no bag and rope now?" You asked as Lucas walked past the items. "I ain't got any first aid stuff here," Lucas said, ignoring your question, "so just bind that." You raised an eyebrow and yelped as he quickly grabbed your injured arm and tugged you towards him. You whined in pain, and Lucas tore the sleeve of your top off. He ripped the scrap of cotton again and began tying it tightly, but not uncomfortably, around your wound. You didn't know what shocked you the most - Lucas helping you, or the fact he didn't actually kill you in the party room. Maybe the latter. 

Lucas looked, ...looked almost guilty. Annoyance played on his face mostly but you knew a guilty person when you saw one. 

The make shift bandage on your arm was soaked with blood and water. A small puddle had collected from where you stood. "You are a lotta work to look after," Lucas said, going over to a big green box, "Take it." Lucas threw a small towel at you. No idea came into your mind as to why Lucas was (half-heartedly) being relatively nice. You began drying yourself off. 

"Thanks."

Lucas looked at you. His signature smile formed on his face. "Don't know if you'll be thanking later." He said menacingly. And the almost tender moment was gone, where he almost broke an act you were sure was there. You held on to the towel after you finished drying off. You naively thought it was going to be a 'master gave Dobby a sock' kind of situation where he was contemplating letting you go. Evidently, not. 

•

Zoe paced in her trailer waiting for the phone to ring. She hoped it would anyway, maybe she was finally getting through to him. The phone eventually rattled and Zoe picked it up almost immediately. 

"Hello?"

"Hey, Zoe. What's up?"

Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"Lucas, how is she."

"She's great. Fine. Never better." Lucas said, nearly yawning. Zoe let it go. Times like these were like how it used to be before Eveline came. 

"Don't pull anything like that again."

"Or what? You'll kill me?" He taunted. 

Zoe sat on the ground, the phone still in her hand. "I thought there was somethin' decent left in you." Lucas sent silence her way. 

"It's. It's fine." He said, and hung up. 

Zoe let the phone drop and hang by its cord. The beeping of the unused line came from it. She put her face in her sweaty hands and sighed. 

•

This time you actually got to see more of the house. Lucas lead you through a maze of hallways and rooms, all the way back to his HQ. The basement is what freaked you out the most. The cold, enclosed grey walls made you feel like you were in a horror movie. Which wasn't too far off reality as of right now. 

You arrived back to the room and before you could speak Lucas pushed you onto the bed and closed the shackle around your ankle once more. "Too much excitement for one day I think." Lucas said with a smile. "I might bring you something t'eat tomorrow, that is, if you don't make me force-feed you again." He winked and left the room, shutting the door and locking it. The blue glow from the monitors were the only light source. The room itself wasn't tiny, but it could've been bigger. Another one of those massive green boxes was here too. You'd love to snoop but you were once again chained up. 

The chain was barely long enough for you to lie down normally so you kept one leg bent over the side of the bed. After today's ordeal you just wanted some sleep. Lucas had dipped into a room along the basement corridors and came back with a green bottle. The words "First Aid Med" were on it. He removed the cloth from your arm and poured some on. It was like applying aloe vera gel to a sunburn. The hole in your arm quickly stitched itself back together and disappeared, leaving only a feint scar. You tried to ask about the liquid but Lucas threw the bottle behind him and the smashing of it interrupted you. You decided to just stop talking, he still looked annoyed, and after the party room you didn't really want to test him. 

You started to think about Zach. Just thinking about him was doing your head in. You wanted some real information as to where he was, was he ok? You figured you'd have to be brace enough to at least ask Lucas whenever he comes back. If he comes back. 

Obviously Lucas took your weapons when he took you. He placed them tauntingly in a drawer in his desk. Always there, just out of reach. You looked at the phone on the desk and began to wonder who he had called earlier. You guessed he was talking about you when he said "she's fine". You'd hoped it was Zoe, since no one else here seemed to be sane enough to hold a conversation. Maybe that's why he went easy on you; was Zoe warning him?

•

"Y'see, I just don't get it," Lucas said, swaying in his wheelie chair, "who thought it was a good idea to make explosives so hard to get? Isn't it a right in the constitution or whatever." Lucas spoke half to himself, half to you. The insanity of this man astonished and terrified you. He'd returned after a few hours to grace you with more food, edible food, this time. What else he was doing while he was gone you didn't really want to know about. 

You were still lying on the slightly stiff bed. A tray of crumbs was on the ground beside you. Lucas had brought you dry toast. You knew the bread was stale to begin with. At least you had half a glass of water with it. 

"Where's... Zach, my friend?" You asked, swallowing hard. You were fidgeting with your hands as you waited for a reply. Lucas spun towards you slowly. "The dude I saw bein' dragged to mama's? Shit, he's probably a bug's nest by now." Lucas laughed. Your heart sank. This was visible on your face. "Aw, was he your boyfriend?" Lucas prodded. You wanted to glare at him but all you could do was stare at the ceiling. You shut your eyes so Lucas wouldn't see the tears building up. He stood up from the chair and stretched. "I've decided to give up the nickname for you." He said. "How kind." You choked out. With your eyes closed you didn't notice Lucas looming over you. "I know, I'm a real great guy." Lucas reached down and grabbed your chin, causing you to open your eyes rapidly. You went to hit his arms away but he pinned them down with his other arm, pressing against your torso. "If you wanna find lover boy so badly," Lucas leaned in closer to your face, narrowing his eyes, "find him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really gonna try and mix it up next chapter, stay tuned!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zacharoony is back ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Zoe sat on her bed and tried to read a book. The constant stress of this place made it difficult to concentrate. She fiddled with the corner of the page before closing the book and throwing it onto the end of the bed. 'Maybe I should try some music', she thought. Zoe leaned over and turned on the radio and turned the volume down a little. Just background noise is what she wanted. She lay back in the bed with her hands behind her head. She tried to think of a way to get you back, to somehow convince Lucas to let that happen. At least she could find partial comfort in the fact he hadn't at least maimed you yet. Not only did Zoe want a (sane) companion, but she needed help finding more out about what Jack and Marguerite were hiding. Mia had mentioned, in her moments of clarity, a possible serum that could be made to cure her family and get rid of Eveline once and for all. Zoe was lucky that she didn't fall to Eveline when the rest of her family did. But she could feel her slowly creeping in. The last three years had been exhausting. Lucas didn't seem to know anything about the serum. Then again, he may have been playing dumb. That's why she used to call him Dum-Dum. Zoe smiled at her childhood memories but dragged herself out of them. No point to thinking of the past. She needed to move forward. 

•

"Lucas, wait!" 

You panicked as Lucas dragged you through the Baker home by the arm. You grabbed his hand and tried to pull him off. "Don't- I'll die, Lucas!" His grip was as strong as ever and his quick pace was hard to keep up with. Lucas decided he was getting sick of hearing about your "poor little friend" and was now taking you to find him by yourself. You had no weapons, and none of that magic healing stuff Lucas had either. You were going to be slaughtered by whatever was out there, more than likely Marguerite, who apparently had Zach. 

"I'd love to see that," Lucas said, "but I probably won't." You looked up at him as you both stopped in the foyer of the house. Was he going to make sure you were ok, like before? He leaned down to your face. "I ain't got camera over there." He smiled and pushed you towards the door. Hope seems pointless in a place like this. "Here." Lucas tossed you the gun and knife you had before. He also gave you the ammo you'd found. "If you get a nasty injury or a limb bitten off, pour some a' this shit on it, works like a charm." Lucas threw a green bottle to you and you luckily caught it. If it had smashed you doubted he would have given you another one. You read the label. "First aid med..." you said to yourself. Lucas walked to the door with an odd decoration of three dog heads on it and pushed it open. "You're gonna want to go through there," Lucas pointed to an opening on the far side of the yard, "and if you find any of the molded, the head's always a weak spot." With his last few words of 'encouragement', Lucas once again pushed you out the door. "Good luck, sweetheart." Lucas slammed the door behind you. You turned around, looking out into the yard, clutching the first aid med. "What's a molded?" You asked. 

You looked over and saw a white trailer sitting in beside the path Lucas told you to go through. The windows were boarded up. You could see streams of light escaping through the planks of woods. Does someone live there? You decided to check it out before going any further. 

You knocked on the door just to be nice, you supposed. There wasn't an answer. It wasn't boarded so you tried to open it. The door creaked as it did, and you looked around you before stepping inside. The trailer inside was a stark contrast to the yard. It was brightly lit, cosy and smelled of vanilla. Whilst outside was plunged into darkness and cold, the trailer was like a safe haven. You investigated it further. There were books, a phone, some clothes and a well-made bed. On a table in the back of it you found some notes. 

24 November 2016  
I saw a newspaper today that Daddy somehow got, it said '17 Missing from South Louisiana'. Has it been that many? I haven't seen a single soul in three weeks. They must be taking them down to the basement now. - Zoe

So this is Zoe's trailer? The notes looked like she was trying to keep a messy diary. You were sad she wasn't here at the moment. You contemplated waiting for her, but you had been given an opportunity to save Zach, and you didn't want to make him wait any longer. Searching through the notes you found some more information. 

12 April 2016  
Those disgusting monsters Evie keeps making are moaning and groaning day and night. Sometimes they walk outside in the yard. Lucas calls them the "molded". Sure is an accurate description. - Zoe

So they're the things Lucas was on about. Zoe describes them as monsters. You'd guessed as much. At least you knew what you were looking out for now. 

05 September 2015  
Mama's been in the old house for months. Last time I saw her she was carrying around an old lantern I saw in the basement once. She looked like she was determined, or ready to kill. It's hard to tell anymore. God, someone help my family. - Zoe

From Zoe signing all her notes you thought that she must've been waiting for someone to find them. The thought of especially her having hope was almost inspiring. 

•

Zach's eyes were nearly jet black. The blood vessels in them had filled with this inky substance and Zach trembled as he looked at them in the mirror. He'd gotten better enough to walk out of bed and find one. His hair was a mess and his clothes were dirty. Zach shut his eyes and when he opened them the blackness had disappeared. Marguerite left a while ago to do something. Before she left she brought Zach a "fresh" bowl of soup. He pretended to be asleep for a few minutes until he guessed she had left. He rolled out of bed and went in search of a mirror. Seeing himself wasn't something he thought he'd ever be afraid of. 

The vomiting had stopped. Zach didn't know if he was thankful or if it just meant whatever it was that's wrong with him, his illness, was getting worse. He sighed and clutched the edges of the cupboard the mirror rested on. "I gotta get out of here." Zach whispered to himself. He was a bit afraid Marguerite would hear him. He walked down the hallway, the floorboards nearly bending under his steps. He felt as if the house was going to collapse at any moment. He made it down to the ground floor. Well, it wasn't really a floor, so much as one with giant holes in it and wooden bridges connecting each side together. Nests of those nasty flies were rotten everywhere. They seemed to appear and reappear all over the house. Zach carefully crossed a bridge over to what looked like a front door. There was a chest of drawers here, with a note on it. 

I got to see Jack and tell him about our new addition! I am sO excITeD!! But also need to kill that BITCH in the BASEment so Zach will shutUP about her 

The writing was all over the place, but legible. It was easy to tell Marguerite wrote it. Zach knew Marguerite was talking about killing you. Now he really needed to get the fuck out, he wasn't going to let you die in this rotten place. He took a deep breath and turned, ready to open the double doors, when he heard footsteps coming towards them from the outside. 

•

You'd found a saddle bag in one of Zoe's drawers in the trailer. Securing it around your hips, you put the first aid med in there so you wouldn't have to carry it around. You left a note for her saying where you were going. There was a clock beside Zoe's bed so you wrote the time to let her know when you'd been here. It was 3 a.m. You also apologised for taking the bag. 

Opening the door to the outside was a task in itself. The safe atmosphere of the trailer melted away as you set foot on the grass. You closed the door behind you and set off behind it to opening. Beside the trailer was a huge metal door with lights all around it. It had two keycard sliders on it. You could hear the baseline of music even vibrating from inside. This caught you off guard, it looked like a nightclub in the middle of a hellish bayou. There was almost a little humour in it. The black light inside showed no blood on the stairs up, at least. 

The opening was surrounded in shrubbery. The path forward was dark and you wish you had a flashlight. It looked linear enough, so you went onwards. You had the handgun in your hand and the ammo at the ready in your new bag. Being honest with yourself, you felt like a bit of a badass. Your confidence was knocked when you came to a wooden bridge. The wire around the top had dolls caught in it, and doll heads hung from the ceiling. Being extra certain you checked to see if the plastic babies actually were fake, and they were, to your relief. You walked slowly down the fence and saw a set of double doors on the building the bridge connected to. You turned the knob on one of them and, very tentatively, opened it. You nearly dropped your gun when you saw him. 

Zach's mouth dropped open when he realised it was you. With a moment of shock passing, you ran to each other and hugged. You didn't care that he was nearly suffocating you, and you him. "Zach! I can't believe you're alive!" You said. The both of you pulled away, Zach still hanging on to your shoulders. "Me?! I can't believe it- I never thought I'd see you again!" Zach said. "What happened, are you ok?" You asked, remembering when Zach had insects crawling out of him. Zach dropped his hands from your shoulders. "That crazy bitch, she, she did something to me. I don't know what. I keep puking fucking bugs and, and she thinks I'm her son or something." Zach said rapidly. Your eyes widened in shock. "What?! Well she fucking hates me." You said, nearly laughing. "I know," Zach said, reaching for the note and handing it to you, "We really need to get out of here before we're killed." You read the note and your hand shook. "Did Marguerite say anything to you? About what's going on here?" You asked. Zach scratched the back of his neck. "Something - Something about a little girl, I don't know her name. She said she "let her share her gift" with me." You put your hand on your chin. "Her gift..." As you thought, Zach looked behind you. "You weren't followed by anyone, anything?" He asked. You shook your head. "What happened to you then, after we got separated?" You sighed. "I met a woman named Zoe. She's their daughter." You started explaining. "Wait, "their"?" Zach questioned. "Yeah, there's a whole family of crazies here." Zach thought back to the note. That's probably who Jack was, maybe her husband? "There's Jack, Marguerite, Lucas and Zoe, as far as I know. Marguerite is Jack's wife and Lucas and Zoe are their kids." Zach nodded in understanding. "So Zoe, is she psycho too?" "No, she's the only other sane person I've met. She thinks she might know away to cure the rest of them." Zach peeked up at this. "Really? Do you think she could help me, too?" "I don't know, I hope so." Zach noticed the gun in your hand. "Woah, where'd you get that?" You put it in between your belt and jeans like before. "There's another house back there. I went looking around and found it. Listen, we can talk more about what happened later, we just need to try and get out of here." You said. Zach nodded and the both of you walked back up the bridge. "What about the son, Lucas, was it? Did you meet him yet?" Zach asked. You stopped walking and turned to look at him. "Yeah, he's a real psychopath. Trust me on that." 

Just as you and Zach were about to ente the yard again, something hit him in the chest and knocked him back. "Zach? What is it?" He grabbed his chest and groaned in pain. "I can't- I can't leave. She's stopping me." He breathed out. You ran back to him and held onto his arms. "Who? What's stopping you?" "It's... it's Eveline. The little girl, she..." Zach hunched over, now grabbing onto his head. 

"She wants to you join the family."

Zach rose up, standing at his full height. His eyes were black save for his crystal blue irises. Black vein-like tendrils ran up and down his body. They looked like the black stuff that covered the Baker mansion. Zach stared at you viscously, like you were the one thing between him and a secret objective. "Zach..?" You started to slowly back away from your friend. Zach let out a loud scream and began marching towards you. You turned around and sprinted back to the house. You passed the trailer but tripped on a rock in the ground. You scraped your shin off of it, ripping your jeans and the blood spilling out. "Don't go! We'll always be together this way!" Zach called. You looked up in fear at the aggressive form your friend was in. Once he had caught sight of you again he smiled, opened his mouth, and the signature insects pooled out of him once again. You screamed at the sight. "Holy shit!" You got up off the ground and ran for the front door. 

You tried to open it but it was locked tightly. You couldn't see a lock to shoot, either. You banged on the door. "Lucas! Lucas let me in, for fuck sake!" You pleaded. Zach was slowly making his way towards you. A hoard of ever-growing insects was following him. You didn't know what to do to stop him. You turned left and ran down the wooden balcony, trying to find anything to help. You found some more handgun ammo. Maybe this was a sign. You took your gun out and looked it over. Would you really have to shoot Zach?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely pre-infection Zach https://youtu.be/7eSSE-dd2yY

Your shaky hand was trying to aim at Zach from across the yard. Your index finger was resting on the trigger. You've never shot a gun before in your life, so you hoped you were doing it right. "Please don't make me do this..." Zach made some disgusting noises as the creatures kept falling out. He shouted and a group of giant flies flew out, heading towards you. You really had no other choice. You hesitantly aimed at his head - fuck, you couldn't believe you were doing it. "I'm sorry, Zach." You shakily said, tears streaming down your face. He was five feet in front of you when you pulled the trigger. You clipped the side of his head, knocking off half of his skull. You screamed in horror at your own actions. He fell to the ground with a loud thud and the black tendrils absorbed into his skin, disappearing. Zach's face was stuck in a shocked expression as he lay there, lifeless. "Zach!" You yelled and ran over to him. You kneeled beside him, ignoring the pain in your shin. "Holy fuck, oh my god." You said. You turned him over and saw half his head blown off. You held down vomit as you dropped him back to the ground. You covered your mouth with your hands and screamed into them. Tears flowed down your face like waterfalls and you tried to make sense of what you did. Zach he, he wasn't normal. You tried to justify shooting your best friend in the face. "He was like them..." You said, still crying. 

After ten minutes of crying beside Zach's corpse, you got yourself off the ground. Even if you were a bit wobbly you managed to stand on your own two feet; you could take pride in that. You slipped the gun into your jeans and tried to think of what to do next. Zoe wasn't back, she would've heard the gunshots. You walked back to the front door of the mansion once again to see if it was open this time. It was. If Lucas knew you were in trouble and locked it for that reason, you swore you were going to shove the handgun down his throats and keep firing until there was nothing left to shoot at. 

Taking one last look at Zach you stepped inside and closed the weirdly heavy door behind you. You sighed and held in some more tears. You needed to find Zoe. 

•

"Mia, Mia wake up." Zoe gently rocked Mia until she opened her eyes. "Zoe? What is it..." she asked tiredly, sitting up on the mattress. "I need to ask you somethin'." Zoe said. Mia gave her a puzzled look. "Zoe, I don't remember anything before-" "I know, I know. It's not about that." Zoe was eager and Mia could tell. "I, I need to ask you 'bout that case you came here with." Zoe said. Mia thought for a second. "The E-Series thing?" Zoe nodded. "What about it?" "Sometimes you start talkin' about a serum, somethin' to do with that case. What happened to it?" Mia swung her legs over the side of the bed. "I, well... when I woke up and everything went to shit, it was gone. The last thing I remember is passing out with some weird head thing in my hand. And the note about the serum..." Mia rubbed her temple. "Something about... about the head, and an arm? Yeah, that's it. You have to combine them to... to..." The memory faded from Mia's mind. Zoe almost smiled. "That's it! That's what daddy was talkin' about!" Zoe started pacing the small cell. "What?" Mia asked. "Daddy left a note for mama - she has the arm and the instructions for the serum." Mia stood up from the bed. "And what about the head?" Zoe turned to her. "I found that a while ago, in Daddy's workshop. It looked important so I took it. But the note Daddy left just confirms everythan'." Zoe explained. Mia's eyes widened. "So the serum... do you think it could fix us?" Zoe put her hand on her chin. "Seems likely. It's all startin' to come together." Mia nearly smiled too. "What about that girl, from before? I only saw her for a minute." Mia said. "She's, damnit, Lucas has her. I warned him not to do anythin' to her," Mia cringed at the thought of being captive to Lucas, "I don't know if he even listened, but she's our best bet. She ain't infected so Evie can't stop her. Well, that much." Zoe was glad she could be having this conversation right now. In Mia's moments of clarity, it was like she had a friend again. "We'd better move quick. I can't do much for you anymore, especially down here. Go before Evie comes back." Mia ushered Zoe out of the cell and closed the door. "Good luck."

•

There's no rest for the wicked. 

You never thought you were an especially bad person, sure you had your moments of bitchiness, but overall you thought you were a pretty decent human being. So why did you deserve to be here?

You held onto your handgun tightly. You were shaking slightly and you were glued in place at the door. You took the gun out of your jeans because it gave you a sense of security, knowing you could at least fight back if something were to pop out. You didn't want to call out for anyone, though your options were limited, because you didn't want to attract any attention to yourself. You still hadn't encountered one of those molded things. You unconsciously knocked on the wood of the door so you wouldn't jinx it. You had to move because, as much as you wanted to, you couldn't stay in the same spot forever. "The laundry room..." You remembered you'd left some supplies there before Lucas took you. Giving yourself an objective was a good idea, it let you try and push the horrible images of killing your friend to the back of your mind. 

You picked up the herb from before and stared down at it. If anyone would try and talk to you right now you'd just blank them. You felt numb as you put the plant in your bag. You wanted to check the room further in case you missed anything else. You did find a mysterious looking panel on the ground. Moving it revealed a hidden passage. Raising an eyebrow you stuck your head down it and saw a long passageway lit up by lamps. "What else is there to do." You said and jumped down. You crouched down and crawled through the passage. An alcove with a doll and, oddly, a lawnmower caught your attention. There was a note beside the doll. 

She's a part of my family now! But who is she gonna marry????

Attached was a child's drawing in crayon. You could see a little girl in a blue dress with black hair and a wide smile. Beside her was a drawing of a taller person that looked like you. She was wearing your clothes, the same jeans, boots, and red t-shirt with the sleeves ending at your elbows. Well, you only had one of those now. The bandage Lucas had made from your torn sleeve was still on there even though the wound was healed. Whoever drew this even got your hair right. It freaked you out a bit. A thought bubble floated above the little girl's head, with "Lucas?" and "Zach?" written in it. You flipped the drawing and found "Eveline" written in the corner. That's the little girl everyone had been talking about. How did she know about you? You put the note back and continued to crawl down the passageway. You stopped dead in your tracks when you saw another figure in front of you. It looked like someone else crawling down here, but, the noises it made... it sounded like the ones Zach made when he transformed into, whatever he changed into. Once again you took your gun out. You cautiously backed up. Whatever it was wasn't worth facing right now. Much to your annoyance you accidentally kicked the light behind you, alerting the thing to your presence. It was awkward to crawl backwards but you had to try. The creature shrieked and turned to look at you. It was absolutely horrifying. It's face looked like it was melting, as well as the rest of its body. It was an inky black, like the stuff Zach had growing on him. Connections started to form in your head. This thing was a molded. You raised your gun and tried shooting it. You missed three of your shots but landed the fourth in it's shoulder. It barely slowed it down. It crawled rapidly towards you on all fours. Your turned around quickly and hurried back to the opening. The monster grabbed your ankle and dragged you towards it. You shouted in shock and desperately grasped at the ground. It stopped dragging you and shrieked again, raising its hand to come down on you and strike. You turned yourself quickly so your back was on the ground and shoved your handgun into its ugly mouth and fired. The back of its head exploded and it dropped dead on top of you. You let out a breath you'd been holding in and shoved the body off you. You quickly scurried out of the passage, not looking back for a second. You covered the opening with the wooden plate and sat back on the ground. You were covered in black goo and you couldn't stop shaking. "That... was badass."

•

Lucas lazily browsed some website about how many years in prison you could get for burning someone alive when he heard a knock on the door. "No ones home." he said sarcastically. The door exploded off it's hinges as Jack knocked it down. Lucas jumped out of his seat. "Jesus, fuck, Dad! What the hell?!" Jack ignored his some with a huge smile. 

"We've got a guest."

•

There wasn't anything clean enough in the laundry room to get the black stuff off you. The towels in there looked and smelled worse off than you. Come to think of it, you never tended to the scrape down your shin. It wasn't that bad that you wanted to waste first aid on it, it was already scabbing over. The rip in your jeans annoyed you, but you didn't come here to look nice. You left the laundry room and turned right. This was where you first encountered Lucas, but now he was nowhere to be seen. You were thankful. Maybe a little disappointed, because you couldn't give him a piece of your mind. And you wanted to show off you killed a molded by yourself. You found a kitchen and a dining room at the end of the hallway. You walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. The door and shelves inside were connected by slimy strings of something. You gagged and closed it. It was probably naive to think there would be something edible in there. You were starting to get hungry again. There was another door in the kitchen and when you opened it you noticed another passage. "That's not happening again." You said and ignored it. Searching the room you found another herb and a note beside it. 

Eat this shit raw for a bit of a pick me up. Not that anyone here would need it. We're fucking immortal! - Lucas

Even in writing Lucas was annoying. You picked up the herb and thought about actually straight up eating it. You decided to try, at least. You tore a bit off and threw it in your mouth. It tasted like basil and mint. The note was right, you did feel a little more energetic. You looked down at your leg and the scabbed wound had half disappeared. What was this magical plant, and why hadn't you heard of it before? You put the rest of the herb in your bag. 

The dining room had nothing to offer so you headed into the living room beside it. The shelves in there were lined with VHS tapes, books and DVDs. It looked like your average living room, pretty much. You took a book from the shelf called "Fighting Street". You flicked through it and put it back. You didn't have time to read it anyway. There was nothing of interest to you in the living room either, so you went back to the main hall. Just before you left the living room you heard someone coming. You jumped behind the wall and peeked out to see what was happening. You recognised the thundering footsteps as Jack, but as he entered the dining room you noticed he was carrying something. Lucas was with him, hood up, smiling. Jack put the thing down in a chair. Wait, that wasn't a thing. That was a person! Your eyes widened at the scene. "Now, Marguerite ain't here to give you some o' her special cookin' - hey, wake up, boy." Jack slapped the man across the face. "Ah, fuck..." he said. Lucas sat in a chair opposite the man, clearly enjoying this. "Listen here. My boy Lucas is gonna take care of you, oh yes." Jack said. The man in the chair struggled to get loose of his restraints. His arms were tied behind his back. "If I hear of any trouble," Jack grabbed the man's throat, "I will not hesitate to gouge your pretty little eye out with my pinky finger. Understood?" Terror was all over the man's face as he quickly nodded. "Good. You look after him Lucas, y'hear?" Jack laughed as he walked out the double doors behind him and slammed them shut. Lucas swung his legs up onto the table and crossed them, putting his hand behind his head. "We're gonna have some fun, you and I." He said. The man in the chair was shaking. He had long brown hair, stubble, and a baseball cap on. "Please, let me go!" he pleaded. You watched as the scene played out. Lucas laughed at his request. "C'mon now, it ain't gonna be that easy. You sayin' you don't wanna be part of this family?" Lucas asked, sounded offended. "F-fuck man..." Lucas rolled his eyes and stood up. "I'm gonna get a little welcome home gift for you. You stay right there, or else my dad won't be the one gauging your fuckin' eyes out, got it?" The man nodded once again. Lucas turned around and left. Once you couldn't hear footsteps anymore you sneaked out from the wall and over to the man in the chair. It was probably a stupid decision given Lucas could come back at any moment, but what else could you do? You tried to be as gentle as possible as to not elicit a scream from the stranger. You grabbed the back of his chair and stood up. The man glances at you and opened his mouth to scream, as you'd feared. You clamped your hand down on it before he could. He made muffled shouts under your hand. "Hey, hey! Calm down, ok? I'm not like them. I'm normal." You said. He stopped shouting but eyes you suspiciously. Being covered in black goo didn't make you look normal. You removed your hand from his mouth. "What's your name?" You asked. "Clancy. C-Clancy Javis. Oh god, you've gotta get me out of here!" Clancy pleaded. You sighed. "I would if I could. I'm trying to do the same as you." Clancy seemed to calm down a bit at this. "How did you get here?" "I was working on a show with these guys - I'm just the cameraman. We were exploring the old house and, and... dammit, they got killed. Peter and Andre. I'm the only one left." Clancy nearly teared up. "The big guy, Jack, he knocked me out. When I woke up he was lecturing me on the importance of family. And now I'm here." You empathised with him. "That guy Lucas, I'm so fuckin' scared man. He looks like a complete psycho." You couldn't disagree with that. He was insane as fuck. And now Lucas is probably going to give Clancy the same treatment he gave you, maybe worse. "Ok, don't panic, maybe we can find a way out of here together." You reassuringly grabbed his shoulder. Clancy cracked a small smile of hope up at you. The moment was interrupted by Lucas returning. "Shit, I have to hide." You said. "Wait! Get me outta these ropes!" Your eyes flickered from Clancy to the hallway where Lucas would show up at any moment. "I can't, he'll know something's up and it'll probably turn out worse for you. I'll try and get back to you, I promise." Clancy understood but he still didn't like the decision. You ran back to hide behind the wall just as Lucas came back. "Talkin' to yourself is the first sign of insanity." Lucas said as he threw something onto the table. Clancy remained silent. At least he didn't notice you speaking to him. He walked behind Clancy and using a knife he also brought back cut the ropes binding his wrists. Clancy rubbed them but Lucas grabbed his left hand and slammed it down onto the table. "Here's a little gift." Lucas picked up the watch he brought and wrapped it around Clancy's wrist. It looked like a smart watch of some sort. You couldn't see much of it from where you were. "W-what is it?" Clancy asked as he looked it over. "It's called a codex. That green graph right there'll tell you if you're close to dyin' or not." Clancy could feel a cold sweat forming. "Dying..?" Lucas laughed. "Hopefully not. Already lost one plaything, I think. Damn, she was kinda hot too." Lucas grabbed Clancy by the shirt and yanked him off his seat. "So you better last a good while." You watched as Lucas dragged Clancy out of the room. You had to do something, you couldn't let Clancy go down, even in you don't know who he is. You knew you'd regret it but you quietly followed Lucas down the hallway. He pushed Clancy in front of him and made him walk to the hall. "W-where are we going?" Clancy asked. "Now that'd ruin the surprise." Lucas said. You creeped behind them. Your gun in hand, you snook closer to Lucas. You waited until you were in the open main hall to sneakily get right behind him and put the gun to the back of his head. Could you really do it? Kill another person? Crazy or not, he is still a human being. It was either you die or who knows how many other people die. You swallowed your morals and pulled the trigger when the gun touched Lucas's head. 

Nothing happened. You'd forgotten to reload. 

All three of you stood there, frozen. Your eyes were wide as you realised your mistake. Lucas started laughing as he slowly turned around. "Well if it ain't you." He said. You dropped your arm. "Shit." Clancy looked afraid both for you and him. "'Shit' is right." Lucas said and he grabbed your arm. He pulled you towards him and latched his arm around your waist, pressing you against him. You banged on his chest and tried to pull away. You looked to Clancy to help and he was going to, before Lucas raised a hand to stop him. "Nuh-uh, no you don't. You stay right there." Clancy looked to you, silently asking what to do. You threw your gun to Clancy and he thankfully caught it. "Run, Clancy!" You shouted. With a slight hesitation he bolted off in the opposite direction. He didn't want to leave you with Lucas but he had no other options. The double doors he ran through closed behind him. "Clancy, eh?" Lucas looked down at you. "So what have you been up to, sweetheart?" You continued to squirm in his grasp. "Let me go you-" "Did you find your friend?" Lucas spun you around and pinned you against the wall. He was much taller than you and stronger, there was no chance of you escaping, but you still tried. "Lucas-" "Did you find him, or not?" Some of the black goo was transferring from you clothes to his hoodie. "Yes! Alright, I found him and I killed him!" You shouted, tears brimming your eyes. Lucas whistled as he leaned down to your ear. Goosebumps ran down your neck at the feeling of his breath. "You can't kill us." He grabbed your waist again and dragged you along side him. "And from the looks of it, you actually did kill somethin'! You also ruined my favourite hoodie." He said, looking at the stain. You stared up at him. "What do you mean?" You asked. "First of all, I gotta lock you up real tight so y'dont go wanderin' off again. I genuinely expected you to die out there." Lucas said, sounding both surprised and impressed. You came to the stairs leading down to the basement when Lucas picked you up bridal-style. You thought back to the drawing you found in the crawl space. Oh god, what did Eveline mean? Before you could dwell on it any longer, Lucas knocked your head off the bannister and you fell unconscious. 

•

Zoe read the note over and over again. 

Zoe,  
Lucas threw me out of the house to find my friend Zach on my own. I'm going up through the pathway to see if I can find him. I hope you don't mind I took your saddle bag, I really needed it. Find me if you can.  
3:04 a.m. 

There's only one person this could be from. She couldn't care less about the bag. Zoe looked to the clock on her nightstand. 4:45 a.m. "Damnit." Zoe cursed herself for missing you. Although there's no way she could've known, she still got annoyed at herself. Zoe didn't see anyone or anything in the yard, maybe you actually did find your friend and got out. Or maybe you were still in the old house. Zoe's last thread of hope seemed to be disappearing. She shook her head, trying to dispel the negative thoughts. Just because you went to the old house doesn't mean you're dead. You are tougher than you look. Right? Zoe decided her next move would be to find you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My main boi Clancy ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) hope the chapters aren't too long, just trying to build up the story as much as I can.


	8. Chapter 8

You felt groggy and sick when you started to wake up. You wanted to rub your face but you found you couldn't. You tried again but both of your hands were stuck above you head. You looked up and saw they were shacked to the wall. You panicked and started to try and free yourself. You looked around and realised you were back in Lucas' room. He was sitting in his wheelie chair smiling at you. "Good mornin'." He greeted. You ignored him and continued to struggle. "What the fuck?!" You shouted. "You like that? 'Course you don't. Just a little safety measure in case you try to get craft again." You didn't understand. Last time tying to to the bed with a chain on your ankle was enough; he was the one that let you out. He brought it on himself really. The rattling of chains began to annoy Lucas. He stood up and grabbed your wrists. "It ain't any use. Those things were built to hold gorillas." At least he had the decency to trap you so you could be on the bed. "Let me go, Lucas!" "Or what? You're gonna shoot me?" He taunted. You gave him the nastiest look you could muster. "Listen, princess, I ain't got time to be keepin' an eye on you twenty-four seven," Lucas dropped your arms and stood back, "I've gotta find our new guest." Lucas left without another word. He turned the lock in the door and disappeared down the basement. "Lucas! For fuck's sake, don't leave me to rot here!" You shouted. You kept pulling at the chains in an attempt to miraculously pull them off the walls. You hated being alone. 

•

During the moments Mia found herself not feeling quite awake but at the same time awake, Eveline would sometimes visit her. The rare conversations dazed Mia further and took her energy away. 

"Mommy! Mommy, I got a new girl to be in my family." Eveline ran up to Mia, who was sitting on the edge of her bed, head spinning. "Nice..." she said. "Uh-huh." Eveline nodded. "I don't know where to put her, or her friend Zach. I already have a big brother!" Eveline's childish joy nearly masked her true nature. "I want to play a game with them." Eveline said in a sinister tone, smiling widely. Mia smiled tiredly as she saved herself from fainting over and over again. She didn't notice Eveline had disappeared. "Nice... Eveline..." Mia said, finally giving in and falling back on the bed. 

•

It was extremely hard to sleep with your arms above your head. You thought your arms were going to pop out of their sockets if you drooped into a slightly comfortable position. You couldn't remember the last time you had properly slept, and not from a result of being unconscious. Even before you arrived at the Baker's, you and Zach drove through the night to get here. He said it would be a fun road trip. A twelve hour drive through the night had no element of fun. Well, except for Zach's bad singing to any song that came on the radio. 

Lucas interrupted your thoughts when he slammed through the door. "Pretty neat, huh? My old man broke it yesterday, but I put it back up with reinforced hinges. Should stop a stampede of elephants now." Lucas looked really pleased with himself. He sat down in his chair and faced you. "So you shot your friend, huh?" You couldn't look at him in the eye. You were ashamed for what you did. "He's alright, probably back at mama's by now." Lucas said coolly. You eyes shot up to him. "What do you mean?" Lucas smirked. "What, you haven't figured it out yeah? My family - 'cept fuckin' Zoe - are basically immortal." he said. You furrowed your brows. Lucas sighed. "Uh, hellooo? Is anything in there?" Lucas wheeled across you you and knocked on your head. You flinched away from him. "Not to give away too many skeletons in our closet, but Evie gave us this gift. Now your friend is one of us. Maybe more fucked up, but he's immortal none the less." You sat upright on the bed. "So... so I didn't kill Zach?" Lucas made a 'psshhh' sound. "No, idiot. His face will grow back. You did get a headshot, right?" You couldn't believe how nonchalant Lucas was about something that made you want to vomit with guilt. You just nodded as you processed the new information. Lucas smiled and ran his tongue across his teeth. "Damn, you're pretty good. And judgin' from the black stuff all over you, you ran into a molded?" You simply looked at him. "Headshot?" You went to look down at the ground but Lucas grabbed your chin and brought it back up. You nodded again and Lucas whistled. "Holy shit!" You thought showing off the fact you were a badass would make you feel better. Lucas let go of you face, running his index finger under your chin. It sent a shiver down your spine. "I just don't know what to do with you, sweetheart." Lucas' tone was different, almost softer. You backed up from him as much as you could. Lucas seemed to remember something in that moment and shook his head, laughing to himself. 

"Don't know if that would count as hurting you, though."

•

Zoe's heart nearly jumped out of her body when she spotted Marguerite carrying a tray of "food". She was glued to the wall on the other side of her mother as she walked to the main hall. "Better eat this up real nice..." she whispered to herself as she left. Zoe was in the house trying to look for you. Since Marguerite wasn't in the old house, she'd guessed you got out. Usually Marguerite would treat whoever she got her hands on as her child for a while before either killing or infecting them. It freaked Zoe out. 

There weren't any traces of you around the house. Zoe began to grow impatient. "Maybe I should just call Lucas again." She said. Zoe didn't want to leave you with him for so long, but it was better than you running around with molded and the rest of her family everywhere, because as far as she knew you only had the pocket knife she gave you. Zoe contemplated wandering into the basement. The thought made her stomach turn, but she had to get you back to get out of here. 

•

Your head hung with drowsiness between your shoulders. Lucas had been rambling on for hours about things you didn't care about so you'd started to block out is voice. You were in a world of your own, eyes half closed. Tiredness and hunger began to take its toll. 

"So then I said, "Well fuck you too!" and I swear he exploded like a firework!" Lucas glanced from his computer screens to you as he spoke. You responses went from "mm-hmm"'s to half-assed grunts. Lucas looked you up and down. "Takin' care a' you is like ownin' a dog." Lucas said and stood up. You didn't have the energy to shoot him a look. Lucas gently slapped the side of your face. "Wakey, wakey, eggs and... shit, I don't know." Lucas was suddenly holding a plate of the mushy shit from before. You didn't even notice him leaving, you must've drifted off. He put the plate in your lap. The lump of gooey slime had a fork sticking out of the top. You managed to give him a look that said "are you fucking serious?" You got a sudden burst of energy, enough to shake your arms and scream. "FUCK YOU LUCAS!" You shouted, the plate nearly falling off your lap. Lucas grinned from ear to ear. "That's the ticket." He picked up the fork and shoved it into your mouth. Just like before. This enraged you further and you kicked him in the stomach, knocking the plate onto the bed. Unfortunately the dinner remained intact. Lucas grabbed your leg and bent it towards you so your knee was level with your chin. He put his own knee on the edge of the bed and leaned in against you, showing the fork further into your mouth. You nearly choked on the food and accidentally swallowed it. Lucas took the fork out and you gasped for air. One time of Lucas force feeding you was enough. It looked like you didn't have a choice as he picked up another massive forkful. "Wait- Luca-!" You didn't have time to finish your sentence as Lucas jammed it into your mouth again. You squeezed your eyes shut and clenched your fists. You shook your head to try and get the fork out of your mouth. When you opened your eyes you saw Lucas, smiling, chuckling at you. "Eat up, buttercup." Lucas said. You hadn't got a choice and the fork was basically halfway down your throat so you did. You felt worse with every bite. Obviously there was something wrong with this food, but there was something else to it that was more sinister. 

You felt as if your insides were being put in a blender on the slow setting. Lucas picked up a third portion. "N-no Lucas, please..." Your wrists were almost bleeding from shaking them around the shackles so much. "I can't take any more!" You said. It was only then you noticed the black goo mixed into the greyish mush. Your eyes widened. Was he feeding you... mold?! You could feel yourself going to vomit when Lucas shovelled more of the contaminated food into mouth. You nearly started crying and this time you were determined not to swallow it. This pointless game was annoying you and you didn't feel any fuller. 

Lucas had a sadistic glint in his eye. "Aw, cmon, princess. Don't make me do something I really don't- well I do, maybe." Lucas jumped trains of thought mid sentence. You tried to prevent him pushing the fork in further by biting down on it. Lucas laughed. "Ah, fuck it." Lucas launched himself forward and bit your nose. You opened your mouth to object and Lucas slid the rest of the food down your throat. You coughed widely and Lucas let go of your nose. You glared at him. There were probably teeth marks there now. "What?" Lucas held up the fork and plate. "My hands were full." "What was in that food?" You coughed out. Lucas's face was two inches from your own. "Nothin' that wasn't already in there." You dragged yourself back up against the wall. Lucas was still pressed against you. All of this was really... weird. You still felt awful. You felt as if your skin was genuinely crawling. "Why are you doing this?" You asked him. Lucas smiled. "Because it's fun." Lucas had put the plate and fork down, his hands now on either side of you. All of a sudden you felt a migraine coming on. You knocked your head against the wall in pain. "Oh, oh, OH this is it!" Lucas said excitedly. "What the fu...uck..." Your head felt like it was going to explode. You let out screams every so often. "Ha-HA!" Lucas grabbed your shoulders and straddled you. "L-Lucas!" You screamed and tried to fright the excruciating headache, and tried to knock him off you. He put his hands on the side of your face. "Didn't think it would take this quick to get it workin'!" You really didn't want to go unconscious again, you hated the feeling. But you couldn't help it. It would mean you'd get a break from Lucas' taunting. Before your eyelids closed you swore you saw a little girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a bit shorter than usual but I didn't want to overload all of you with a lot of things happening at once!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I draw as well, and I've come up with a basic design for Zach if you want to see it. Here's the link: http://xomf.com/nlmnb

You awoke in a cold sweat. You didn't know where you were for a second before all the memories came flooding back. Your migraine was gone, at least. Small trails of blood trickled down your arm from where you've been struggling with the shackles. Some of the blood was dried and some fresh, you guessed you'd been reopening the cuts in your sleep. You looked around the room but your vision was wavy. You could make out Lucas sitting in front of you, his signature demeaning smile on his face. "Welcome back to the world of the livin'." You groaned out a response. "Good thing you woke up," Lucas started, "I was gettin' sick a' you screamin' my name all night." He smiled slyly. You highly doubted this was true. "Fuck... you." You breathed out. Your mouth was as dry as the dessert. "Really? And it ain't even my birthday." Lucas stood up. "What the fuck... was that." You referenced to the food. The plate and dreaded fork were now gone. "Y'mean my mama's cookin'?" Lucas said, not even able to take himself seriously. "That shit was a little gift I had for you." You glared at him. 

You could feel a strand of... something on the side of your mouth. Lucas noticed it and came over to you. You tried backing away from him but your head hit the wall. "Stop bein' so fidgety." Lucas said seriously. He grabbed your face (more gently than usual) and wiped his thumb across your mouth. The both of you paused and Lucas was making pretty intense eye contact with you. You didn't know what to do; you couldn't move, and you've tried kicking him before, but he has a weirdly strong body. His thumb stopped at the corner of your mouth and he pulled your bottom lip down slightly. You could feel the sweat from earlier building up on your forehead. You made an uneasy noise in your throat. Lucas let go of your face and backed up. You dropped your head and silently tried to breathe in as much air as you could. You had been holding it through that... what was that?!

Lucas sat back in his chair and slid back to his desk, not saying a word. You were a bit dazed but tried to gather your thoughts. "Lucas, what did you put in the food?" You repeated your concern. Lucas seemed to ignore you as he went through some emails. "Mild infection, nothin' to worry 'bout. You won't get hurt so bad, specially if you lose a limb or somethin'." He said plainly. A mild infection?! "The shit your family's hopped up on?!" You panicked. Lucas rolled his eyes. "Calm down, I didn't give you a full doe. I can't anyway," he rested his head in his hand, "You should be thankin' me, really." You huffed and slouched, not caring about the pain in your shoulders. "Fucking hell..." Your mind scattered trying to think of what would happen. Would you end up like the Bakers? Like... like Zach? And what about that little girl...

•

"Fuck you, old lady! You hear me?! Fuck you!" 

Zach shouted through the locked door. He banged on it with his fist. It wasn't going to budge, it was barricaded on the other side too. Zach kicked the door in anger. 

Marguerite had locked him in after she found him lying in the yard. Half of his face was blown off and the woman fell to her knees screaming a blood curdling scream. "My baby, my baby!" She cried. She picked him up in her arms and carried him back to the old house. All the while networks of black muscle and bone were stitching themselves back together. When they reached the house Zach was as good as new. 

Marguerite placed him in the bed he had been in earlier. "That little bitch did this to you, huh?" Marguerite was fuming. "Jack said she got out, she got out... I'm gonna make her pay, you hear me? Don't you worry none. I'm gonna make her pay." She walked out and locked the door. "Don't go runnin' off again!" Dressers and other items of furniture were stacked against the door to make sure Zach really didn't leave. 

Now he was pacing the room, trying to find a way out. The window he looked out of just showed him a swamp with god knows what in it. There weren't any ledges he could climb on either. And while he'd love to break the weak-looking wooden panels in the room, he doubted they'd lead to anywhere but the floor below where Marguerite was probably patrolling. Being treated like her child was bad enough as it was, being punished by her didn't sound too fun. 

The last thing Zach remembers was seeing your frightened face. He felt different, definitely out of it. He remembers the voice of a child speaking to him. "Stay in the house," she said, "my game isn't ready." And then, he felt his body explode into something completely different. It was like an out of body experience - he saw a monster attack you. It wasn't him, but it was. His last second of clarity came right before you shot him. Then everything went black, and the girl spoke again. "Get up, lazybones!" Et voila, he woke up in the same stinking bed again. 

Really, he couldn't blame you for shooting him. He probably would have done the same thing. The thirst of killing he had, he didn't think he'd ever forget the feeling, or how guilty he felt. Zach couldn't believe he'd ever try and hurt you, or anyone. He shook his head and tried to remain focused. He needed to get out of here. 

•

Your hair felt matted against your head and your skin sticky with dirt and sweat. You felt gross and being stuck to a wall didn't help. You shifted your posture, making your shackles shake. Lucas glanced at you. There had been a dead silence between the two of you for hours. Lucas sighed and rose from the chair. He opened a drawer in his desk and took out a key. He unlocked your shackled and your arms fell to your sides. You'd never felt relief like it and nearly even thanked him. You moved your shoulders in a circular motion as you felt the blood flowing through your arms. Even though your wrists were still closed together, it was nice to have your arms in a natural position again. Lucas suddenly grabbed the chain attached to the shackles and yanked you off the bed. You nearly fell into him. "What's going on..?" You asked tiredly. "You smell like shit." Lucas laughed. Once again he dragged you out of the room and through the halls of the basement. You were getting sick of this repetition. "C'mon, we're gonna get you cleaned up." Lucas pulled the chain and you actually did fall into him. You looked up into his crystal blue eyes. They showed the usual insanity, but there was something else in there... You didn't have time to make an evaluation before you were being pulled down the hallway again. 

Lucas pulled open a door to a shower room. It looked like something from an old locker room, and you doubted it'd ever been used by a person to clean themselves in. Piles of tools in the corners backed this up. It wasn't the biggest room either, with two shower head and just enough room for two people to use them. "There ya go." Lucas pushed you into the room. The walls weren't the typical tiled version, they looked like they were covered in sections of Lino*. You looked down at your shackles. "Oh yeah, hang on." Lucas grabbed a huge axe from another pile of tools. You brought your hands closer to you. "Aw, don't be like that. I ain't gonna hurt ya." Lucas rolled his eyes. You stepped backwards but Lucas grabbed your arm and tried to steady you. "Now hold still..." He brought the axe above his head and swung down. With expert precision he cut the shackles in half and they fell off of your wrists. You'd looked away but glanced back to see your arms intact. "Why didn't you just use a fucking key?!" You shouted. Lucas swung the axe back onto his shoulder. "Because that was more badass." He said smugly. You sighed. "I'll give ya five minutes, so don't blame me if I walk in and you're not decent." Lucas winked and walked out. You frowned and looked around the room, shutting and locking the door. The panels on the wall were peeling away from it and the tiles on the floor were cracked. It was so run down you were surprised when the water turned on. Another surprising element was the fact that it was ice cold. You yelped and tried to back up against the wall to avoid it. The room was too small however, and both shower heads were on, so there was no avoiding the icy liquid. "At least he didn't make me have a bath..." You tried to think positively. While you were trying to avoid the water you noticed that a panel between the two shower heads was especially loose. You clenched every muscle in your body and walked through the cold water to investigate. You gripped the edge of the panel and peeled it back further. There were pipes running up one side of the exposed wooden wall. You were getting drenched but you tried to concentrate. At least you were getting some sort of a wash. The blood on your body was gone anyhow. The wood was rotten just like the rest of the house. "Maybe I could..."

The wood snapped off in your hand. You kept breaking off the wood rather easily and found a passage behind the wall. You've had bad experiences with hidden passages in the past but you had to take a chance. You squeezed yourself sideways through the narrow passage, not bothering to close the panel behind you. The wood was all over the floor now anyway. You heard the sound of the water hitting the tiles fade away as you moved further down the passage. It suddenly stopped and you heard the door open. Your heart raced and you quickened your pace. The passage opened into the outside. It was a really bushy area, and you could barely see up into the sky. You could just about make out the moon. Beside the opening was a palette of wood and some concrete blocks. You tried to stack the concrete blocks in front of the opening as fast as possible, in case Lucas tried to follow you. For good measure you shoved the wood in front of it. You arms aches from all the sudden heavy lifting. 

You turned around and made your way through the bushes. Was this it? Your way out? Any moment now the bushed would clear into a road, a path, anything, and you would just walk and walk until you found someone. You pushed the last of the bushes out of the way and saw 

The yard. The fucking yard. "You have GOT to be KIDDING ME." You yelled. Your voice echoed into the night. You had emerged beside the night club-looking place. You put your face in your hands. 

•

Zoe was sitting in her trailer, making notes when she heard yelling outside. She dropped her pen and went over to the window over her bed, bending the blinds to peek outside. She saw you standing there, soaking wet, your face in your hands. She gasped and checked around the surrounding area before running to the door. Zoe swung it open and stood there for a second before running over to you. She gently placed a hand trying not to startle you but it didn't work. You jumped and she jumped too. "You're alive!" Zoe said, half shocked, half relieved. Your eyes darted around behind her to see if anyone else was there. Zoe's mouth was in a half smile. It looked almost unnatural on her face. "We got a lot of work to do." Zoe said, plans being made in her head as she rushed you into the trailer. "Hang on-" "I got some towels in here, I think." Zoe ushered you into the trailer and shut the door behind you. She sat you on the bed and started looking through the drawers for a towel. "Zoe-" "Here ya go." She handed you a blue towel. You took it, but still tried to speak. "Now you're here, we can still move forward." Zoe stood in front of you, her hand on her chin. "Zoe, listen to me." You said. Zoe looked down at you questionably. "I need a second. It's been a rough... while. I don't know how long it's been." You said, drying your hair. "Right, right, sorry." Zoe twiddled her thumbs as you dried yourself off. "Where've you been?" Zoe asked. You looked up at her and sighed. "Let's just say, your brother is a fucking asshole." Zoe nodded understandingly. "And before you say it," you threw the towel to the end of the bed, "I tried going into the old house. It didn't work out. I don't know how we can get the head." Your mindset was back to the plan. Projects always helped you ground yourself. And this was some project. Zoe's full attention returned to the conversation. "What happened?" You looked at the ground. "My friend, Zach, he's some kind of... of monster." You said, holding your head in your hands again. "And there's another person - Clancy. He ran off but he's not infected or anything. Not yet anyway." Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I don't know, I think mama got him. I ain't seen him but I heard her talkin' about him. Listen, if we can help my family we can help him." "Zoe, how much serum will it make? How many people could you cure with it?" Zoe thought for a second. "I- I actually don't know. Hopefully a lot. I mean, I think it should. Enough for my family and I." Zoe looked down at you, your shoulders sinking. Zoe narrowed her eyes. "Why..?" You rubbed your face and looked her in the eyes. "Lucas, he made me eat some of that gross grey shit your mother apparently makes. It had mold in it, the black mold... He told me I'm infected too." Zoe's mouth dropped. "What?!" "Would there be enough serum for me?" Zoe looked around the trailer frantically. "The bastard! I told him not to- Fuck!" She slammed her closed fist onto the cupboard behind her. "Would there be enough serum for me?!" You repeated, louder this time. Zoe looked at you. "I don't know. Not until we make it." "So I'm fucked." Zoe sighed. "No, you're not. He probably didn't give you enough to do any real damage." She ran her thin fingers through her hair. "I can't do this anymore. My friend is as good as dead without that serum." You said. "That's exactly why you gotta do this. For him." Zoe grabbed your shoulders. "Without it ain't no one ever gonna get out of here." 

•

Lucas was watching his knuckles scab over and heal before his eyes. He was staring out of a window on the second floor of the house, at nothing in particular. One thing he could be thankful for at the moment was that he didn't feel pain anymore. 

He'd damaged his hand after he punched through a wall in the bathroom. Straight away he spotted the passage you'd escaped through. "I knew I shouldn't a' left you on your own." He said, peering into the gap. 

In all honestly Lucas was annoyed because he'd lost something vaguely close to a companion. It was rare Jack or Marguerite let him have a stray all to himself. And when he did have one, they'd usually bore him to death so he killed them first. But now you were gone, again, and Lucas was alone. Again. There was something he saw in you that made him want to keep you locked up forever. Maybe it was because you actually had the brains to try and leave. Others usually gave up after a day. Something that Lucas wouldn't admit to himself, but was true, is that he liked you. 

•

"So, what about Clancy?" You asked Zoe. She was back at the table in her trailer making notes. "What about him?" "We can't just leave him here." "If he's infected, we have to. We might not have enough for the six of us." You raised an eyebrow. "What about Mia?" Zoe stopped writing. "Damn, Mia..." She put her pen down on the table. "This is getting into a huge mess." She ran her hands through her short hair. You looked at the ground. "What's our next move?" Zoe's face was now in her hands. "We still need to get the D-Series arm from the old house." You looked at her. "D-Series, that's what it's called. Some science-y bullshit." Zoe rose from the table. "I can't go back in there, both Zach and Marguerite want to kill me." You said, never thinking you'd ever say that Zach wanted to genuinely murder you. "I'm especially fucked with no more weapons. Lucas took them." "I know, I know. We need to think of something else to do." You lay back on the bed and closed your eyes. "Like what?" Zoe became frustrated. "I don't know, I don't know." 

Zoe leaned against the cupboards when an idea struck her. "I got it." You blinked at her. "We just gotta get your weapons back from Lucas, right? You know where he's keeping 'em?" You thought for a second. "Yeah, some room with a load of computer screens. It's in the basement." Zoe stood up straight. "Ok, here's my idea: we just gotta lure Lucas out, go and grab your weapons and voila!" Zoe awaited your reaction. "How are we gonna lure him out?" Zoe reluctantly told you the rest of her plan. "Clancy's still in there, right?"

•

Clancy didn't like exercise. It made him feel worse, even though its supposed to release endorphins or whatever. He'd been running around the baker home for hours, trying to find a way out, sometimes hoping to run into you again. All he was met with were gross black gooey monsters that really had it in for him. He'd come across doors with strange wreaths on them, scorpions, snakes and crows. Apparently he needed keys for these doors but he didn't know where to get them. At one point he'd wandered into the basement after hours avoiding it. Armed with his handgun, he ventured forth in search of something to get out of here. 

"Whatcha doin', boy?" Clancy whipped his head around and saw the towering figure that is Jack. Clancy yelped and tried to run away when Jack punched him in the head. Clancy fell to the ground, unconscious. 

When he woke up he was still in the basement, but in a room he hadn't gotten to. He was on the floor and beside him was a note. 

Survive until 6 a.m. 

"What?" He looked up at the ceiling and saw a digital clock. The time was 12:00:00 exactly. An alarm rang through the basement and the time started to move. Clancy scrambled to his feet. Around the room was a large scrap making machine, ammunition and what looked like a turret on the wall. "Alright, old man. Bring it on."

•

"We're not using Clancy as bait, he'll be killed." You said. Zoe sighed. "We won't. Lucas likes to toy with people before he kills 'em." She said it so casually it nearly frightened you. "No, let's think of something else. I'm not risking a man's life for a plan that might not even work." "What other options do we have?!" You sat up. "Listen, Zoe, even if I do get my weapons back, I couldn't defeat Zach and Marguerite. They'll just keep on coming back, right?" You said. Zoe rubbed her forehead. "Is there anything else we could do?" Zoe slammed her fist into the cupboard. "No! Goddamnit, three years I've been waiting for this opportunity! Three years!" You stood up off the bed. "Calm down, Zoe!" "No! Fuck off back to Lucas if you ain't gonna help!" She shouted. Her face was becoming red with rage. "Zoe-" "Go!" She swung open the door to her trailer. She was actually serious in kicking you out. Even if you had been struck with fear ever since you arrived, you still had your pride. You stormed out of the trailer (possibly to your death) and watched as Zoe slammed the door behind you. She turned the lights off to let you know you weren't welcome back. You really didn't think it was appropriate to throw a hissy fit in the middle of a situation like this but neither of you were going to give in any time soon. 

Your only other option was to once again go back into the mansion. You really hated that place. You turned to the right and saw the glowing door again. Maybe you should try that instead? The sun was starting to come up, you noticed. 

•

Gravel crunched under the wheels of a pale beige car as it came to a stop at the end of the road. The handbrake was pulled and Ethan stepped out, taking in the view. He shut the door of the car and took a deep breath. This is where the email said Mia was, and even though he wasn't sure of it authenticity, he needed to take a chance to get his wife back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Lino is like a plastic, rubbery thing that you can put on the floor or I guess walls. It has designs on it, I'm not sure what people call it outside Ireland XD


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing of particular importance to say here I just hate homework >.>

"One, two, three, four, I declare a..." Eveline sat beside Mia, holding her hand. Mia was in a semi-conscious state. "Come ooooon, mommy." Eveline said almost tauntingly. Mia groaned and shook Eveline's hand. "Tired..." Mia croaked out. Eveline rolled her eyes. "You're always tired!" Eveline jumped up from her chair and let go of Mia's hand. Mia had been having worse days lately. She'd been turning into, that person, more often. When she lost all control and Eveline used her like a human steering wheel for whatever she wanted. Once, Mia thinks it was a year ago, Eveline used her to kill a young woman with just a rusty pipe. The image of her head being crushed and underneath the steel tube would never leave Mia's memory. That's what the worst part about being under Eveline's control, she thinks. She knew what was going on but couldn't do anything to stop it. Like she was a ghost in her own head. 

Eveline's ears peeked up slightly. "Mommy..." She creeped to the door of Mia's prison. "Someone's here."

•

You shook the handle of the large steel door. You could feel the bass from the music inside in your heartbeat. It wouldn't open and it frustrated you. There were two key card slots, red and blue, and you definitely didn't have the keys. Zoe wasn't going to be helping you out anytime soon either. You wondered if you could just push through the bushes and squeeze through the open staircase. You doubted it, but it didn't stop you trying. You got about halfway through the stairs when you got stuck. Your legs hung freely as you lay there, defeated. You were stuck in the stairs at just above the hips. If anyone saw you right now you'd probably die of embarrassment. 

You heard the crunching of leaves beside you and you froze. The sun was up now so you could turn around and see the figure of someone. "Is... is anyone there?" A voice asked. Hang on, you recognised the voice. "Clancy?" You called. The person pushed through the bushes and found the clearing where you hung from the stairs. Your face went tomato red as Clancy came face to face with your ass. Clancy's eyes widened. "Uh, hi." You banged your head off the stairs. "Don't judge me, just grab my legs and pull me out of here, please." You said. Clancy took hold of your ankles and pulled. You pushed against the stairs and you were once again free. You dusted yourself off and looked at Clancy, who was a little red in the face too. You cleared your threat. "How... uh, where have you been?" You tried to make it less awkward. Clancy rubbed the back of his neck. Upon closer inspection you noticed he looked like shit. He had cuts and fresh bruises all over him, and his clothes were a little torn up. For some reason his baseball cap was intact. He held on to a shotgun in his right hand. "I just had the worst night ever." He said seriously. You had the feeling he didn't want to talk about it right now. "What were you doing in the stairs?" He asked. "I, I don't want to go back into house." You said. Clancy understood. 

"Well I don't think climbing through the stairs was the best idea," Clancy said as you walked through the yard together, "one of those molded probably would have killed you, but by the ass." You ran your hand down your face. The two of you decided to just grin and bare it and return to the house. There wasn't a large variety of places to go right now. "I did some some weird doors in here." Clancy said as he opened the door. He let you go inside first and closed it when he got in. "There's like, weird wreath things, with a crow and scorpion on it," He took two shotgun shells out of his fanny pack. A smart choice, you thought, missing your own. "And a snake. I think you need special keys because the locks are weird too." You stretched your limbs as Clancy continued to reload. "What happened to you?" You thought of your second ordeal with Lucas and shook your head. "I got stuck with Lucas again." A memory played in Clancy's head. "Oh yeah. Shit, he kidnapped you?" Clancy felt a bit guilty for leaving you. "For the second time." You complained. Clancy put the strap on the shotgun over his head and adjusted it on his back. "Damn. What'd he do to you?" You looked down at your wrists which were surprisingly semi-healed. Dow did that happen? You didn't use any first aid med. They were still red and some cuts hadn't healed. "Nothing that's worse than what you've been through." Although you doubted Lucas tried to do some weird lip shit with him. You looked back up to Clancy. "So, we should probably start looking for those keys now." Clancy put his hands on his hips. "Don't say we have to split up." You shook your head. "It hasn't worked out for us before." Clancy smiled a little. It was good to have a bit of banter now and then, even if it was dark humour. 

•

First you, then Clancy. Jack was extremely pissed off at letting two trespassers slip through his fingers. He was storming his way through the halls when Marguerite popped out of no where. "Jack, Jack where is that little bitch! She shot our boy!" Jack gritted his teeth. "Out of the way Marguerite, Lucas will be fine." Marguerite shook her head vigorously. "No, no, no, Jack! Our new boy, my boy!" Jack rolled his eyes. "Are you talkin' bout that Zach again?" Marguerite nodded. "Why don't y'just kill him an' be done with it? Or did the girl finish him off?" Marguerite growled. "No, he's one of us now, he's got Evie's gift." Jack seemed to relax a little. "Really now?" Marguerite was relaxing too. "Well, anyone who hurts a member o' this family's gotta pay." 

•

Neither of you wanted to go down to the basement so you checked the upstairs. "So," You walked into the bedroom that was up there, "what were you doing before you wound up here?" Clancy asked. You picked a family photo of the Bakers. Marguerite and Jack were standing behind a much younger Zoe and Lucas. They looked about 10. The family resemblance between them was almost uncanny. You wondered if they were twins. Setting the photo down you continued searching. "I was helping my friend Zach film something for his YouTube channel." Clancy looked through drawers on the bedside table. "Oh, so was I, actually." You turned to him. "Exploring videos never turn out like this, though." He said. You had to agree with that. Usually there'd be a (probably fake) spook and that's that. This whole situation was... a big spook. You nearly laughed at your own choice of words but stayed looking for something. You opened the white door to a closet. It was full of clutter - books, VHS tapes, old trinkets. On top of the large bookshelf a skinny black object poked out from under a box of more stuff. "Clancy, I think I have something." Clancy jogged into the walk in closet. You pointed at the object and he tried to reach it. "I can't get it, I'll give you a boost up." Clancy joined his hands and kneeled down. You supported yourself on his shoulder and put your foot in his hand. He boosted you up and you grabbed the stick-like thing. You pulled it but forgot about the box on top and it fell on top of you. You couldn't help but let out a surprised yell. Clancy dropped you to instinctively catch the box. You fell to the floor and Clancy just about stopped box from falling on your head. You let out a sigh of relief that he'd caught it. "Shit, thanks." You said, clutching the stick. Clancy put the box on top of another one behind you. "No problem." He held his hand out to you to help you up. You accepted it and examined the object. It was a long, black stick of wood with a strange cut end and a symbol of scorpion on it. "This must be one of the keys." You said happily. Clancy held his hand up. "Go team?" You smiled and high-fived him. "Go team."

"What the hell is all that racket?!" Marguerite shouted from downstairs. The both of you looked in horror at the door. "Fuck!" You shoved the scorpion tree into the back pocket of your jeans. You looked at each other in a panic. "Here, your gun. It's loaded." Clancy gave you the handgun you had back. "We can't kill her." You said. Clancy looked around the room. You could hear her rough footsteps approaching. Clancy started moving boxes out of the way. "What are you doing?" Clancy ignored you and kept moving them. He suddenly pushed you back against the wall. "Sit down, stay quiet. I'll try and distract her and you run." Clancy began stacking the boxes around you so you could hide. "Clancy, no! I can't let you do that!" You tried to stop him but he wouldn't. "It's ok. One cameraman to another." Clancy gave you an unsure smile. You wanted to say something but you didn't know what. The door outside burst open. "Who's in here?!" Marguerite shouted. Clancy slipped the shotgun off his back and without another word left the closet. You wanted to shout after him. Instead you brought your knees to your chest and tried not to make too much noise as you started to cry. "You... who the hell-" Clancy fired a shot and Marguerite roared. "Take that, you psycho bitch!" Another two shots were fired and fast footsteps followed. You hoped it was Clancy running. You could hear Marguerite groans and shout. "Git back here, you son of a bitch!" Marguerite ran out of the room too. You held your breath until you were sure she was gone. Then you let out all the crying you'd been holding in. Your face was soaked in seconds. You really hated this place. 

•

Lucas was sitting on the stairs of his club-like area. He was still trying to find an adapter that went into your GoPro, but he couldn't. His world went to shit before he could stock up on them. He put it back into the pocket of his hoodie. He'd been carrying it ever since you left. 

Lucas isn't a sentimental person. He doesn't get attached to anything other than technology. And even then he'd usually throw shit out if he didn't need it. He definitely didn't need this GoPro. But it was yours. He shook his head and stood up. He could've sworn the step he stood on was slightly bent. 

•

You never appreciated the day time as much as you did now. When you and Clancy had come back to the house the sun was only rising. Now it was about midday, and you stared out at the trees across the Baker estate. You were standing on the bridge in the main hall. You'd only left the bedroom once you were absolutely certain Marguerite was gone. You hadn't seen Clancy at all since he left. Tears were still drying on your face. You pulled yourself away from the railing you were leaning against and decided to try and make some progress. You dragged your feet to another door on the other side. A hallway stretched out on either side of you. You went to the right because you could see the outside. The sun was still shining and whatever light filtered in was welcomed by you. Turning left again you were back in the bar-like room. You'd run so fast the first time you mustn't've noticed you ran upstairs. You recalled your legs burning, maybe that was it. Fear really does blind people. 

You saw a note left on the bar. It was a note left from Jack about getting rid of the dog head statues in the front door so people couldn't open it so easily. You took a seat at the bar and put your head against the hard wood, placing your gun on it too. You didn't care if a molded walked in right now. 

"Hey."

•

Zoe was still in her trailer. She hadn't cried in three years, and she didn't after she threw you out of the trailer. That's the moment she realised she may be heartless. Going over the situation in her head, Zoe had asked you to sacrifice a man's life for hers. A man who probably had no idea what was going on. She'd stopped making notes after you left. Only a lamp illuminated the trailer now. She still hadn't turned the lights on again. Not that Zoe thought you'd want to come back if they were. "Stupid, stupid..." She insulted herself as she shook her head. She had to make amends. 

•

You jumped off the bar stool and grabbed your gun. "Woah, woah, woah." Lucas held his hands up. "Stay the fuck back." You ordered. You really didn't want to deal with Lucas right now. If he tried to kidnap you again you thought you'd go as insane as him. Why was he even trying to stop you shooting him if he's immortal? "I'm not gonna do nothin' to you." You doubted that. Your hands were shaking a bit as you pointed the gun at him. "Fuck you!" You didn't hesitate and shot him in the shoulder. He barely flinched, but a smile flashed across his face. It disappeared as soon as he looked back at you. Did he enjoy that?! "Leave me alone!" You didn't give him time to say anything before you emptied three more shots into his chest. You were becoming overwhelmed in that moment, everything that's happened to you coming back at once. Zach turning into a monster, shooting his head off, Clancy, Lucas, everything became too much and you felt like you were going insane. Lucas stepped closer to you and you pushed yourself against the bar. "Stay back." A tear fell down your face. Lucas took another step. "Stop!" "Listen to me, goddamnit-" You fired another bullet through his thigh. Your hand was shaking so much your aim got worse. "I want to go home." You said. You'd never felt this pathetic in your life. Lucas briskly walked up to you. "Look at me." He grabbed your wrist and tried to lower the gun. You pressed the trigger and shot through his collar bone. You regretted not running off earlier. "Lucas!" You struggled against him. He squeezed your wrists hard and you dropped the gun. "Fuck-" Lucas pressed himself against you. Your back ached against the bar. "Listen to me." He grabbed the sides of your face. "I know I'm fuckin' insane." He said. You couldn't help but keep shaking. "I love it," he whispered in your ear, "But you gotta get the fuck out, 'cause I don't know what I'll do." You could feel his stubble graze against your neck. You turned your head away and whimpered. "Get off." You pressed your hands against his chest. "Who you gonna marry? Clancy's here too." You heard a whisper in your ear and it definetly wasn't Lucas. It sounded like a little girl. You started to get a migraine again. "Ev..." You groaned and tried to push Lucas away again. You could feel yourself becoming weaker. "Marry Lucas, you can be my big sister. Marry Zach, marry Clancy." Eveline appeared behind Lucas, a vicious grin on her face, her long black hair covering half of it. "Or don't be in my family and die." She disappeared with her last word. Inside your head you wanted to break free and run away but your body refused. You felt like you were melting. You slid down the bar and Lucas picked you back up. "Evie... Evie..." You repeated. Lucas picked you up bridal style again. Your head flopped back. You kept saying "Evie" over and over again, sometimes stretching to an "Eveline". Lucas didn't saw a word as he carried you down the hallways. Your migraine was still there, your head feeling like it was going to explode. Lucas put your head against his shoulder. You could feel blood trickling out of your nose as the migraine worsened. "Evie... Evie... Eveline..." You said groggily. "Would you hush up?" Lucas said. "Don't... 'm not..." Your speech became slurred. Lucas carried you through the house, your dead weight not a problem for him. "Zach... is, Zach is, ughh..." You kept trying to toss and turn in Lucas' arms. It was such a strange experience - in your head you knew what you wanted to say, but somewhere from your brain to your mouth it fucked up. You could hardly control your mouth as well. "Fu...ck..." Lucas looked down at you. Your eyes were half closed, nose bleeding, and your mouth opening and closing like a fish. Words came out like verbal diarrhoea. "Let g...o. Mmm!" You tried to weakly push yourself off Lucas. He tightened his grip, even though there was no real chance of you fighting him. Your hands felt like jelly trying to break stone. "I said I wasn't gon' hurt you." Lucas tried to talk to you. You shook your head, some of the blood from your nose splattering onto the floor. "Don't believe... You, Luca..." You gently clawed at his hoodie. Lucas rolled his eyes. 

He set you down on a bed somewhere in the house. Lucas was familiar with this stage of the infection. Maybe he gave her too much? No, his calculations were perfect. They always are. "Fuck you... birthday man..." Lucas tried not to laugh at your rambling. His phone buzzed in his trouser pocket and he took it out to look. It was an alarm that said "Injection". He switched his phone off. "That can wait." You looked around you. "Zach is..." You grabbed your head. "Please... Evie..." Lucas almost felt sympathy. Must be the injections wearing off. Sure, they got rid of Eveline's influence. But a side effect was insanity. Some of it (most of it) was genuine, though. "Goway... nngh." Lucas didn't know if he stuck around to see what happens during this stage from an outsiders perspective, or if he wanted to just stay with you, specifically. If anyone else got infected he'd usually just throw them into a room (or a tray in the morgue) and check what happens every few hours, if he remembered. They usually just turned into molded. The thought of you turning, it struck a cord inside of him. "No, Lucas, ba... back off." You clawed at the air. Lucas pulled up a chair and sat beside you. "Oh boy, I do love a good show." Lucas said. He was trying to justify staying here for another reason other than him wanting to. Your nose was gushing blood and any other person would be calling an ambulance at this point. "See now, if you were normal, you'd be dead," he said, "but I went an' have you some a' that special shit." Lucas pretended you were having a normal conversation. "Mmphh... stop... shut u-up..." Lucas wasn't sure if you were talking back to him at this point. You continued to toss and turn, grabbing your head occasionally, mumbling about making it stop. 

When Lucas thought about stopping your pain, he knew he was fucked.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to keep the characters as accurate as I can here. Let me know how I'm doing! It's so hard to remember where everything is in the Baker house too (>0o-)>

"And, and that's.. why I.." You kept droning on and on about nothing of importance. It had been an hour and Lucas didn't leave your side. You weren't moving around too vigorously any more but you wouldn't lie still. "Very interestin'." Lucas scrolled through his phone. "Clanc... no, goway Evie." Your nose stopped bleeding and you closed your eyes a while ago. Lucas hoped you were finally getting to sleep. You looked like you needed it. The dark circles under your eyes were nearly as bad as his own. You all of a sudden you stopped moving. "Lucas... Lu...cas..."You reached out and hit Lucas's leg, digging your nails into his knee. He put his phone into his pocket. "What?" You didn't reply, you'd fallen asleep. Lucas was relieved. "Now I can finally leave." Did he want to though? Marguerite suddenly shouted from the outside hall. "Lucas! We got a guest, get your ass down here." Lucas raised an eyebrow. Another guest? That meant another injection. Had to keep up appearances. He also loved the side effects. 

Lucas stood up and turned to you. Your mouth hung open as you snored. "Don't go runnin' off again, for yer own sake." He said, and turned to leave. 

•

Zoe was back in the house when it happened. Jack had brought a man up from the guest house. He had thick blond hair, and looked clean. He was a newcomer. Jack had strapped him to a chair in the dining room. She only came looking for you, but now she had this to deal with. Zoe noticed he was also missing his left hand. It was freshly cut off. Luckily, Jack had picked it up from wherever it was cut off. "Well you probably won't be needin' this anymore." Jack examined the hand and then threw it against the wall. "Just make it easier for you to try 'n escape." Jack said as he dropped the blond into the chair. "I'm gon' round up the family, and we're gonna have us a feats." A menacing smile and laugh came from the towering man as he finally left. 

Zoe snook over to him when she was sure Jack was gone. She picked up the hand as well. "Can't leave you like this." Zoe said, feeling sympathy for him. She thinks that's her worst flaw, being too sympathetic. Lucas used to call her a cry baby for it. Zoe left the hand on the table and went into the kitchen, searching through drawers. She found what she was looking for; first aid med and a staple gun. "I ain't a surgeon but this is gotta do." She said as she went back to the man. Zoe lined up the bones in his arm with the one in his hand and pressed them together, pouring the first aid over it. It started to work almost instantly when Zoe took the staple gun and bound the arm and hand together. Zoe noticed the man's head swaying and his eyes opening and closing slowly. She quickened her pace and finished stapling his hand. He groaned and Zoe took the bottle of first aid and the gun and left swiftly. It wasn't long before he was out cold again. Whatever her family was about to do to him, she hoped they had a bit of mercy. 

•

You were still felt like you weren't yourself at all when Lucas came back. There was fresh blood on his arm and his hoodie looked like it'd been stitched up. Lucas had taken another injection before going to dinner, and the effects were in full swing. "Well, hello there princess." Lucas sat back in his chair. You groaned in response. "N-nice... Lucas?" You were trying to figure out if he was still a calmer version of himself and the words yet again tumbled to your mouth. Lucas smiled. "Aw, you think I'm nice? Doubt many others would say the same." You shook your head. You knew he'd turned back into the bad version. It was like he had bipolar disorder, or maybe it wasn't even a mental health issue other than complete insanity. "Away..." You tried to hit him. Through your eyes, you were doing fairly well. In reality you weakly slapped the air. "Now, now, none o' that," Lucas grabbed your hands and intertwined them with his. You gently pulled your arms. "Fuck, its... is you, ahh..." You moaned. Lucas squeezed your hands tighter. "Sure it," he leaned in to you, "You feelin' any better, baby?" You turned your head away from him. "It's, is it... Eveline, stop marrying..." Lucas pulled back. "Woah, woah, woah! Marriage already on the cards for us?" Lucas laughed. "I like a girl that plans ahead." You turned over, you legs mingling with the blanket on the bed. You arms ached from being pulled by Lucas. "Don't... Mmph!" You made a loud, raspy shout. Lucas let go of your hands. They immediately went to your head, grabbing at your hair. You arched your back in pain. The migraines were back. God, when was this going to end? 

•

Clancy was quickly discovering he didn't like vomiting. After Marguerite's cooking was forced into his mouth, he was glad he did. The chain on his left wrist didn't hurt him as much as he thought it would, maybe because he could get out of it. He'd done it, he thinks, solved the stupid puzzle to get out of here. Marguerite had disappeared an hour ago. She didn't tell him what she was doing, and Clancy knew he didn't want to know. If he could just chance getting out of bed and doing the final piece, he'd be home free. 

Free, he'd hoped.

•

"Clancy..." Lucas was getting bored now. "All you talk about is Clancy, Clancy, Clancy!" You'd been mumbling his name for the last while. You knew he was in trouble, you could feel it. "So, is, what?" Your eyes rolled back into your head. No wonder Lucas usually discarded those he infected for hours. If this is what happened, he'd probably die first. Of boredom. You were hallucinating now. Eveline kept popping in and out of your vision. She didn't say anything, just gently taunted you. You thrashed your legs around every so often and hit the air. "Lucas... Lucas you... and then will you..." Lucas perked up. "What is it, sweetheart?" He placed his hands on the edge of the bed. His sly smile was creeping back onto his lips. You put your hand on your sweaty face. "Please, if, and... something for... don't, Lucas." You weakly grabbed his hoodie. Lucas smiled, baring his teeth. Very suddenly the mood changed. Your skin turned a pale grey, your eyes went coal black, save for your irises which turned an icy white. You grabbed Lucas with both of your hands and roughly pulled him onto the bed. You turned around so you were on top of him. You pinned his arms to either side of his head. "Agh... Fuck you Lucas!" You roared, snarling at him. You felt like your body was full of oil. You had not control over anything except your emotions, and they seemed to be heightened, driving the tiniest impulse you had. The dried blood on your face was smeared across your left cheek, making you look twice as crazy. 

Lucas whistled. "Guess I did measure out the mold wrong," he looked you up and down, "and you survived. That's my girl!" You brought up your right hand and swung down at him. You viciously scratched Lucas' face. Four scratches started to bleed, but they closed up before any blood leaked out. Lucas grabbed your forearm and held it up in the air. "Play nice!" He sat up and took you with him. You screamed loudly. "What did you do to me?!" You tied to swing for him again with your other arm but Lucas caught it before you did any damage. He pushed you backwards onto the bed. "Feisty one, aren't ya?" The smile never left his face. "Fu- uck!" You shouted roughly. You bolted back up only for Lucas to pin you back down. You writhed underneath him. "Ah! No, DIE!" You punched his chest. He laughed in your face. Letting out a guttural scream, your muscles gave up in your body. You felt like a rag doll as your skin and eyes slowly turned back to their normal colour. Your hands were in an iron grip on Lucas' hoodie. They were locked into position as your head cleared up. Finally, you were returning to normal. Lucas giggled. "If you start ramblin' again I'm gonna have to kiss ya to shut you up." You looked up at him and realised where you were. You let go of his hoodie and your arms fell your side. "What is going on..?" You rubbed your temples. Lucas put his hand under your chin. "Helloooo? You in there?" His face was dangerously close to your own. You tried to back your head away but he pressed on your chin. "Nuh uh, y'ain't getting away again." "What happened to you?" You said, referring to his previously normal state. Normal was a bit of a stretch but it was better than how he is now. "Don't worry your pretty lil' head about it." Lucas slid his free hand into your hair. Your heartbeat quickened. "Get off of me!" You wiggled around under him. Lucas was really feeling the full high of those injections. That mixed with the almost sweet feminine smell of your hair was driving him even crazier. He buried his head in your hair and breathed in. You whimpered. 

"Hoo boy, you sure are somethin'." He said, bringing his head back. "What's happening?" You asked shakily, referring to whatever the fuck he was trying to do and what went on in your body just moments before. Lucas pushed the inside of your knee outwards, trying to spread your leg out. "H-hey! Lucas!" Your face heated up. Lucas smiled at you. You really weren't in the mood for any more of his games. You tried to change the subject. "Where's Clancy?" You'd sensed that he left a while ago. Lucas rolled his eyes. "D'you want Clancy right now?" Lucas trailed his hand from your chin your your shoulder. You nodded, not noticing what he was implying. "Ah, kinky girl, yeah? Into threesomes?" You nearly screamed. Lucas winked at you. "W-wha- No! What the fuck?!" You used all your force to push him off of you. He sat back, the sadistic smile on his face. You felt like he got up on his own accord because you'd never been able to push him before. You quickly jumped off the bed and grabbed your handgun from the bedside table, guessing Lucas put it there when you were gone loopy. Realising you were in the little bedroom beside the bar made you feel a little better, you guess. At least you knew where to go. You stormed off, leaving Lucas to laugh loudly on the bed behind you. "Yep, she's a feisty one."

•

Clancy was climbing his way through an underground passage, listening to Marguerite gurgle and scream. He'd stabbed her in the throat, he thinks. It all happened so fast he just pointed the knife in the general direction of her head and went for it. The relief he felt when the secret passage under the bed opened was unbelievable. He'd climbed so far into the passage that an end had to come to it soon. He hoped it wasn't a dead end. In some good luck for once the passage did have an ending. Unfortunately it lead Clancy back into the basement. "This is like, the opposite of a silver lining." He said as he hopped out of the hole in the wall. When his feet his the ground a small cloud of dust flew around them. Clancy sniffed the air and sneezed. "Damn, where am I?" The signature grey brick walls told him we was somewhere in the basement, but he couldn't place himself anywhere. He opened the door to his left and was faced with the labyrinth of hallways. "Here we go, I guess." He reloaded his shotgun and took a deep breath. Maybe he'd find you down here. 

•

You walked up the stairs stumbled out onto the landing. You had slammed the bedroom door shut behind you to send Lucas a message not to follow. You doubted he'd listen. Hearing a strained scream from the other side of the second floor you hid behind a cupboard. You don't actually know why you took your handgun. You'd emptied the clip on Lucas and didn't have your little bag anymore. Marguerite limped out of the bedroom where you and Clancy were earlier. "Damn you, you, you fuckin'..." She was so angry she couldn't get the words out. "Jack, get up here! Clancy's gone missing!" You scrambled to the edge of the cupboard. She had Clancy? "Oh fuck..." You hoped she didn't do to Clancy what she did to Zach. "Shut the hell up Marguerite, that son of a bitch Ethan's gone!" Marguerite screamed again and stormed down the stairs. "Who the hell is Ethan?" You stood up again and cautiously walked to the room Marguerite came from. You opened the door and saw blood mixed with mold on the floor. You just hoped it wasn't Clancy's. 

There wasn't any trace of him there. You checked the closet too. You remembered you still had the scorpion key in your pocket. You hadn't come across any doors with a scorpion wreath on them yet. Feeling a bit defeated you returned to the landing. A loud crash boomed from downstairs and you jumped. Jack entered the main hall, dragging a large metal weapon behind him. It looked like a pole with and mesh of spikes on the end. "Here, little Ethan, where are you?" He called. You didn't have time to hide before Jack tossed his head up and spotted you. "You! You little bitch, git down here now!" Jack was barely walking briskly but was a speedy fucker. He was up the stairs in no time. You ran in the opposite directions and down the other stairs. There was a small room beside you. You saw a statue holding a shotgun. "No way!" You took your chances and ran in. You knew you couldn't kill Jack, but at least you could stumble him if you got a headshot and take the chance to run away. You grabbed the shotgun from the statue but the heavy metal door slammed shut behind you. "Oh, fuck!" You said. Jack appeared in the window beside the door. "You fucked up, didn't ya?" He gave a boisterous laugh. "You can't wait in there all day sweetie." He smashed the glass with his fist. "Either you come out, or I come in." You started shaking. You looked around the room for another escape route, clutching the shotgun. Your knees felt like they were going to collapse because you were so terrified. "Tell you what. I'll give you until the count a' three to put that gun back and get out here, or I just smash through the door and come in anyway." You looked back at the statue. No, there had to be another way out. This house was full of hidden passages. You naively felt the wall for some sort of indent, a secret door, anything. "One," Jack walked in front of the door, "Two," You desperately felt the walls for any sign of escape, "Three!" Jack was true to his word and he ran into the door, bursting it open. He gave a loud chuckle as you screamed. Jack swooped down and grabbed your ankle. He pulled and you fell on your ass, dropping the shotgun. Jack started dragging you out towards the main hall. You screamed and tried to kick his hand off your ankle. "We take you into your home, give you a place to sleep," Jack threw away the large metal contraption he was carrying in favour of his infamous shovel you'd always see him with, "and this is how you repay us?" Jack scoffed. "Fuck you!" You shouted in a shaky voice. The tall man laughed. "Well, fuck you too." Jack held the shovel above his head and brought it down rapidly into your right thigh. It nearly sliced through your leg. You screamed louder than you ever have. The pain was unbearable, blood was gushing and squirting out of the wound. "Whoops, didn't cut through the bone." Jack once again dug the shovel into your leg and sliced it off. Tears fell down your face like waterfalls as the pain only worsened. You started to see white dots and your leg felt like it had just been struck by lightening in every nerve. Jack held up your detached limb like he'd just caught a huge fish. "Now that's watchu get for bein' a fussy little bitch." He threw your leg back down beside you. He threw the shovel away and picked up his metal weapon. Without another word his heavy boots hit the floor and he was gone. You continued screaming as you looked down at your stump. The blood wouldn't stop flowing. You needed to do something. You sat up and looked around you. You remembered how quickly that first aid med stuff had healed you before, maybe it could work on re-attaching your leg? It was a long shot but you were desperate. The only problem now was trying to find some of it. 

•

Zach hung around the rusty gate leading into the yard in the Baker house. He'd managed to get out of his room after conjuring up some wood lice from his stomach. It had to be the most disgusting thing he ever did in his life. He didn't even know he could do it, he just knew that some bugs are through wood, so he stuck his fingers down his thrust and hoped for the best. Who knew the best could actually happen in a place like this. 

He didn't want to try and leave again in case he turned into that version of himself. Last time he left the perimeters of the old house was a disaster. He sighed as he stood there, feeling useless. All he could think about was you being alone out there. Zach gripped the bars of the gate and shook them out of frustration. He dropped his arms and looked up to the sky. It was nighttime again. How long had he been here? A day or so? Maybe more. Zach hoped someone had filed a missing persons report for you and him. Someone had to know they weren't back yet and that is wasn't right. Although Zach did tell his family and friends he'd be away for a week, surely with no phone calls or social media update, someone would've noticed something?

Zach turned his attention back to the Baker mansion. He'd never been in there. A part of him wanted to, just for the sake of exploring. That's what got him into this mess though. What got both of you into it. If he'd just have listened to you when you said something didn't feel right, you wouldn't be stuck here right now. Zach couldn't help but blame himself. The loneliness of having no one (except Marguerite, who had some serious familial issues) to talk to was really getting to him. He missed you like crazy, and crazy was just another part of life here. Zach hoped he wouldn't actually go crazy. "I'll get out of here." He reassured himself. "I will, and when I do, I'll douse myself in insect repellent."

•

Eveline didn't have any other kids her age to play with. She had to make due with dolls and playing with people's lives. She didn't really mind, having a big family was enough for her. 

She was playing with one of these dolls on the roof of the house, playing a game with herself. She'd ripped off one of the dolls legs. "Zach." She said. Popping out the doll's arm, she continued her game. "Clancy." She tore off the other arm and leg, following her actions with "Lucas" and "Zach". Eveline twisted the doll's head before ripping it off. "Clancy." She said. She stood up and looked out into the bayou. She gripped either end of the doll's torso and snapped it in half. 

•

You were using all of your strength to haul yourself up onto a cabinet to look through the drawers. You used your remaining leg to balance yourself. You opened and closed them, searching for medicine. You didn't finds any, and you were in more agony by the second. How you weren't dead by now amazed and frightened you. You knew it had something to do with being infected. You dragged yourself across the floor to the final cabinet. You'd left a trail of blood like a snail behind you. Agonisingly getting yourself balance on your knee again, you searched. Finally you found a bottle of first aid. You grabbed it and panted heavily. The sweat on your face was unbelievable. Now you just had to drag yourself back to your leg. 

You collapsed on your back once you reached it. You groaned and pushed yourself back up. You had to save your leg. You leaned over and grabbed it, lining it up perfectly with your own. The jagged cut made it easy to fit back into place, like a puzzle piece. You unscrewed the cap of the bottle with your teeth and spit it out. Without hesitation you poured it all around the cut. Instantly, you could feel the fibres in your leg stitching themselves back to one another. The feeling of the cool liquid on you was like applying aloe vera gel to a sunburn. You lay back down on the floor and took deep breaths. At least your leg was back on you. You couldn't believe your plan actually worked. In your head you gave yourself a pat on the back. No one else would. You could feel the sensation coming back into your lower leg. After a moments rest you sat up and tried standing. You limped and stumbled over to a wall for support. Beside you was a door with... holy shit, a scorpion wreath. Still breathing heavily, you used the wall as support as you walked over to it. You inspected it. Little statues of scorpions were all over it, with a wreath bearing a huge one standing out. You took the key out of your back pocket and slid it into the oddly shaped lock. It fit, and you unlocked the door. You stuck the key back into your pocket and opened it. There was another hallway. You walked down it and turned left. "The stairs to the basement?" You semi-recognised the stairs. Maybe it was from one of the times Lucas carried you down them. Beside the stairs was another door. You limped over to it and opened it up. Inside was a relatively well-kept room. There was a bed and a giant green chest. On the other side was a desk with a lamp lighting it. The atmosphere in here was... different. It wasn't tense and heavy, it was like someone had finally turned the air conditioning on. The room was inviting. You walked in and gently shut the door behind you. All you could think about was the bed. You sat down on it. It wasn't the softest mattress in the world but luxuries didn't matter to you right now. You tested your head on the pillow and within moments you were asleep. 

•

Lucas... Well, Lucas had always been bad at talking to girls. 

Ever since he started to like them he was awkward around them. First of all it started out as a normal pre-teen boy thing. As he grew up it only worsened. Seeing what little friends he had in relationships by the end of high school really knocked his confidence. And the hair loss didn't help; it was mostly due to the stress of young adult life. Lucas accepted that he'd be alone forever, surfing the web looking for any other source of entertainment. Until he found you. 

But you, you didn't make him feel less confident or awkward. Even in the mess of his insane head he could see that you were something different. Like you were a long lost friend come home. 

•

The creak of floorboards woke you up from your lovely sleep. It was the best rest you'd had in days. Whoever woke you was going to get a giving out to. Unless it was a molded. 

The thought alone made you snap your eyes open. You looked up and saw a man standing there. You didn't recognise him, so you sat up with a start and backed against the wall. "Woah, it's ok." He said, holding his hands up. His blond hair reflected the warm light in the room. You raised an eyebrow. He didn't look dangerous. If anything, he looked a bit scared. "I-I'm Ethan." He said. You slowly sat forward. "What are you doing here?" You asked. Ethan's jaw clenched. "I'm, uh, I'm looking for something." "Looking for something here?" "Well, uh, I got stuck here looking for it." You knew he was holding back. You decided not to push him, he looked like he'd been through hell and you knew what that felt like. His clothes were stained with dirt and blood, and his right arm had stitches... well, they looked like staples, around just above the wrist. He also had a watch on the same arm that looked like it was monitoring his heartbeat. The flashing line was bright green. You got off the bed and dusted yourself off. "You're not one of them?" Ethan asked, his voice cracking a little. You gave him a look. You weren't a Baker, but you were infected. "No." You decided to answer. "I'm about as stuck here as you are." The torn bottom of your jeans started to sag around your thigh. "Dammit." you mumbled, walking over to the desk. Maybe there always a stapler in there to fix them. Ethan noticed the massive wound around your leg and he looked back at his own arm. He frowned as you searched the drawers. "You don't happen to have a needle and thread?" You tried to lighten the mood. "No. How long have you been here?" Ethan questioned. You glanced back at him. "I... I don't know." You said honestly. This caused a slight terror in Ethan. You could've been here as long as Mia as far as he knew. Maybe you were just like her, a dormant... monster. Ethan kept his hand on the gun by his side just in case. You didn't seem out of it like Mia was, so he gave you the benefit of the doubt. "This should do." You took a roll of duct tape out of the door. "Let's hope I don't rip my skin off later." You propped your leg up on the chair and pulled the jeans up to the rip. Wrapping the tape around the fabric you looked over to Ethan who was rummaging through the green chest. You ripped the tape and smoothed it down. Luckily you avoided sticking it to your skin. You put it back on the desk and turned to Ethan. 

He reloaded his handgun. It looked much more powerful than yours. It made you think if there were weapons in it. "Hey, there's ammo in there?" You walked over to the box and dug through it. You picked up seven handgun rounds. You also found your saddlebag from ages ago. How'd that get there? Ethan was still suspicious of you. You could sense the tension. "Listen, I'm not going to hurt you." You said as you reloaded your own weapon. Ethan relaxed a little. "I want to get out of here as much as you do." Ethan shook his head. "Sorry, you can't blame me for being on edge though, can you?" "I guess not." Ethan's cheeks were tinted pink. You had to admit, he was a beautiful man. "How you come close to finding... whatever it is you're looking for?" You tried to make conversation as you went through the chest again. You found more first aid med, more handgun bullets and a survival knife. You swapped it out for your current pocket knife. Why did they even have a chest full of weapons here? "Uh, I guess." You looked at the door. "I can't stay here forever," you thought aloud, "Keep moving forward..." "Where are you going?" Ethan asked. You turned the knob and opened the door. "I don't know." Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Maybe... maybe you could help me with something."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> git gud ethan ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	12. Chapter 12

You fucking hated the basement. 

But you were a nice person, so you agreed to help Ethan. Before round left he pointed out you had blood all over your face. You told him about the nosebleed, but nothing else, and cleaned yourself up. He said he needed to find a dog head statue to put into the main hall door. "Were they not already there?" You thought you say the same ones whenever you used the door. "Jack took them out. I found a note, but he stupidly said where he put them." A hint of a proud smile played on his lips. You couldn't believe Jack was so dumb. The two of you walked through a room that was slathered in mold. You'd encountered some molded along the way but Ethan took care of them. You still held your handgun up just in case. The sticky black mold stuck to the bottom of your boots as you walked. It made you feel a bit queasy. "Down here? Maybe..." Ethan led you through halls and more rooms (the one with bathtubs full of black goo was your least favourite) until you reached one wth a shelf in the middle. There, in plain sight, was a dog head. You couldn't tell it if was bronze or gold in the lighting. Ethan reached for it but pulled his hand back quickly. On the other side of the shelves was Jack. He grabbed the dog head before Ethan could. The two of you stayed dead silent. 

"I was gonna be her father," Jack spoke, handling the dog head, "But now she says he will be her father." You could feel the rage in his voice building up. "No-no-no-no-no-no-no." You were looking through the shelves at him pacing around the room. "I will find him and I will make him suffer." Jack paced to the door. "And you, my friend, will help me." He pointed to a hanging body on the wall. You put your hand over your mouth to stop you gasping. Jack opened the rusty metal door and walked out. You and Ethan looked at each other. "I have to get that dog head; the door won't open otherwise." You glanced to the door and back at Ethan. "We're going to follow him, aren't we?" Ethan nodded and stood up. You followed him down the stairs to the left. 

Pushing through huge iron doors, you saw what looked like a huge metal cage. Blood and rust were mixed together all over the floor and walls. It looked like something out of Silent Hill. The room gave you the creeps. Ethan checked the area for any more supplies. You'd found a lot of ammo and health at the bottom of the stairs. You split the supplies between the two of you, but you have Ethan more ammunition since he used his gun more frequently. 

Walking up the metal stairs, you noticed a door to the right, and body bags hanging from the ceiling. You gasped quietly and you could've sworn one twitched. Nothing surprised you much in this place anymore. You tried to ignore them as best you could. "I'm going to see if there's anything here. You head on." You opened the door as Ethan nodded. It looked like a storage room. There was a steel table in the middle and plenty of shelves with more supplies. You were grabbing some when you heard Ethan call for you. "I found the head!" You leaned out of the doorway. The dog head was tangled in barbed wire and hanging from the ceiling. It looked too easy. You started walking towards Ethan when he grabbed it. Suddenly, Jack appeared out of seemingly thin air behind him. "Ethan!" You yelled, but it was too late. Jack had pushed him down onto the ground floor. Jack jumped down after Ethan, a menacing laugh erupting from him. You ran over to the platform. 

Ethan was groaning in pain on the ground as Jack circled him. "Get up, boy! Fight like a man!" Ethan used his hands to support him as he got off the ground. Jack picked up his vicious metal weapon from before off the wall. The spiked end made you shiver. Ethan pulled out his handgun and immediately started shooting. You looked around you for anything you could do. All that was there were the gently swaying body bags. 

"Ethan! The body bags, use them to stun him!" You shouted. The idea came into your head almost instantly. More body bags hung from a brick object down below. Ethan took your advice and kicked one into Jack, causing him to stumble backwards. This gave Ethan the chance to land several headshots. As the fight progressed and became more violent, Jack ditched the metal weapon in favour of a large chainsaw. It looked like two soldered together to form a huge, terrifying pair of scissors. "Groovy." Jack cooed as the chainsaw roared. "That is not groovy." Ethan retorted. 

"Shit, oh shit!" You said frantically. There was nothing you could do from up here. The fight continued on with the two men swinging their chainsaws at each other. Ethan managed to land a good few hits on Jack, and when he damaged him too much he fell to the grown and bubbled of flesh sprouted from his neck and shoulder. It was disgusting. After a few more times of Ethan digging his weapon into Jack's ruptured body, he roared. The only way you could describe what happened next was as plain as: he exploded. You held down vomit as chunks of Jack spewed all over the fighting cage. "Oh, good god." You said. The both of you looked on in horror as Jack's intact legs got up by themselves. Ethan readied himself to have to fight a pair of legs before they dropped to the floor in defeat. You looked at Ethan as his shoulders dropped in relief. "Do me a favour, and stay dead." Behind him was a door locked by a metal bar. "Hey, maybe you can use the chainsaw to break the bar?" You shouted down. Ethan walked over and sliced through the steel with little effort. The only downside was the chainsaw snapping in half. A shame, you thought. That could've come in handy. "H-hang on." Ethan dropped the broken chainsaw and returned to the pile of mush Jack left behind. He reached down and picked up the lost dog head. Strings of plasma attached it to the remains. Ethan shook it off and put it in his pocket. "That was fucking disgusting." You said to yourself, placing a hand on your forehead. The feelings of sweat never seemed to leave you. You'd love you have a shower right now. 

Ethan left the cage and walked back up the stairs to you. "That was intense." Ethan sighed. You nodded. "Let's uh, let's not ever do that again." Ethan shivered a bit. 

•

Clancy's head had taken a beating ever since he got here. If he wasn't being knocked out he was accidentally hitting it on corners and walls as he flees monsters. This time he was knocked out, and he never got used to the feeling. He'd managed to make it out of the basement, in fact. He climbed through a window on the bottom floor and ran into the yard. With little options Clancy ran through a door in the yard, even though it was suspiciously out of place. There were two keycard slots on it, red and blue. He disregarded them and ran up the stairs. The next door he opened was slammed behind him. He stumbled through mannequins and rooms madly daubed in white. "What kind of freak would build all this?" Clancy asked. His answer came a moment later. "Think you're lucky? We'll see about that!" Struck from behind, he blacked out. 

Clancy awoke in a dark and stuffy room. When he tried to move he couldn't, something kept him held to the chair he was sitting in. And his left hand was stuck in something. "What the... where am I?" Clancy looked at his hand and found it stuck in a Saw-like contraption. Clancy started panicking and tugged his arm. His fingers were spread apart and his hand ached. 

Suddenly static sounded and a million TV screens buzzed to life. Clancy jumped as he spotted another person across the table from him. They were wearing a burlap sack over their head, with eye holes at least. Their hand was also trapped in the same kind of contraption. The TV screens went black. 

Until the hand covering the camera feeding the screens removed itself and revealed Lucas staring at the lens. "Hey. Hey! Hey! Look at me! Yeah, look at me." Lucas backed up. "There ya go," Clancy clenched his free fist, "Now, I wonder... do you have what it takes?" Lucas leaned back in his chair. "See, you two are gonna play a little game." Clancy looked from the screens to the man in front of him. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, matching Clancy's. "And whoever wins gets to walk on outta here alive." Lucas walked a doll made of what looked like twigs across the screen. "So pay attention. Because it's life," Lucas grabbed both ends of the doll, "or death!" He giggled and snapped it in half. 

"Yours."

•

Ethan still didn't tell you what he was looking for. 

Of course you didn't want to pry, but it didn't stop the lingering suspicion. "Just put this last one in..." Ethan placed the dog head into the indent in the front door. A click came from the inside as the door unlocked. Ethan opened it and he saw the yard for the first time. He looked a little bit lost. You looked unchanged. You'd been here so many times with no way out. You envied Ethan's new hope. You figured if you were going to venture forth, you may as well get some more ammo from the green chest. Half for your sake, but mostly you wanted to help Ethan as he did most of the shooting. He was surprisingly good at it. "I'm going to head back to get some more stuff from the chest." Your said. Ethan turned to you. "Are you sure?" You nodded and brandished your gun. "Fully loaded. Don't go too far." You walked away when Ethan spoke. "I'm going to check out that trailer." Your shoulders tensed. You were concerned with meeting Zoe again, since you'd left on such a bad note. "Ok." You said before leaving. 

You were nearly waist deep in the chest looking for something useful. There wasn't that much handgun ammo left, but you found some shotgun shells. You took them, thinking you could save them for later, if you ever got that shotgun somehow. You heard the door open behind you. Ethan must've come back for ammunition, too. "Hey, Ethan, there isn't that much left." You stood up. "Maybe you could make use of some of the stuff in there." 

Your heart nearly jumped out of your mouth when you turned around. In the doorway was Lucas, leaning against the doorframe. He was smirking and swinging the string on his hoodie. You nearly fell backwards. "H-how, how the fuck?!" You thought this was some sort of safe room. "Well, good afternoon to you, sweetheart." You clenched your jaw. "Aw, silent treatment, huh?" Lucas looked at your taped up leg. "What happened there, sugar?" You refused to answer him. "Get out of the way." You had great plans to storm past him when he put his leg on the doorframe to block you. "That ain't no way to talk to your host." You huffed and tried to push him out of the way. "Where ya goin'? Lookin' for Clancy? Ethan? Zach?" Lucas taunted. You glared at him. You swore he brought on a headache. Lucas smiled at you. "Well, princess, you ain't goin' anywhere..." He reached for you but you jumped back. Lucas saw this as a challenge and he narrowed his eyes. He slowly walked towards you. "No, no you are not doing this again." You said. Lucas shook his head and whistled. "You wanna bet? In fact, bettin' seems to be a theme today." You didn't know what he was on about but you didn't care. Lucas' method of attack wasn't even an attack. It was slow, draining and calculated. "Fuck off!" A burst of anger caused you to go ahead and punch him. It did nothing to him, but it made you feel better. "Oh, going psycho again, are we?" Lucas teased. You screamed in frustration. "Y'know last time you pulled me onto a bed. Wonder what you're like gone full crazy." Lucas' glare was seductive. Your heart started racing. You sidestepped him and ran for the door. You thought you were great, outsmarting the insane genius, but it was short lived. A trap was hidden in the hallway along the bottom of the wall. You tripped it and a wire snapped around your ankles. You fell to the ground with a painful thud. Your feet were joined together. "Ah- fuck!" You sat up quickly and looked at the ties. In desperation, you reached down and tried to loosen them. 

The floorboards slowly creaked in front of you. You looked up, eyes wide with fear. Lucas was pacing towards you. Trying to undo the wire wasn't working. It cut your fingers anyway. You tried to slide backwards on your backside. Lucas whistled a tune as he made his way up the hall. "Fuck you Lucas!" You said in defiance. Lucas paused in front of you before swooping down and grabbing your ankles. He pulled you towards him with a quick tug. He towered over you and smiled brightly. You swallowed hard. "Now," he got down on his knees, nearly straddling you, "I know just what to do with you." He placed his hands on either side of your head. You were so scared you didn't notice the piece of duct tape in his hand. "Just before I do anythin'," The look in his eye was devious, "I wanna hear you say one last thing." You raised an eyebrow. 

"What's my name?"

You looked at him in disbelief. Is this a weird kink? "What-" "Ah, ah, ah." Lucas laughed a little. "What is my name?" Your eyes darted between his. "I'm not-" Lucas gave you a look. You sighed roughly. "Ugh, for fuck's sake. Lucas." You said the last part quietly through gritted teeth. "Sorry? Didn't quite catch that." Lucas knew exactly what he was doing. "Fuck this, Etha-!" You used your hands to push you along the floor. Lucas grabbed the front of your shirt and pulled you back. He was dangerously close to revealing your bra. Your face went red at the thought. You felt like he knew this. Back in your original spot, you felt pathetic. "It's just one word." Lucas sang. You rolled your eyes. "Lu- uh, L-L-" You were extremely embarrassed. You cleared your throat. "Lucas." He threw his head back and howled like a wolf. "That's the ticket!" He leaned back down to your face. "You really know how to get daddy goin'!" You went to call him disgusting but he whipped the duct tape onto your mouth. You made muffled shouts behind it. Lucas stood up. "Now, I'm going to let your hands free because I know your wrists were sufferin' a while ago." You glared at him. "I know, I'm too nice for my own good." He put his hands under your arms and picked you up like a toy off the ground. "But I can never trust you to not run away." Lucas grabbed your hips and you screamed. "Wow, I do have a bit more class than to try anythin' in a hallway where people could walk in." Lucas feigned offends. He picked you up again and threw you over his shoulder. Once you realised what happened you started to slam your fists into his back. "You and I both know that ain't gonna do nothin'." You didn't stop, however. 

Once Lucas had brought you into the main hall you started shouting for Ethan. Although no one would be able to make out what you were trying to say. "Hey, the moon's out." Lucas said as he carried you across the yard. You looked desperately at Zoe's trailer and tried to send some sort of brainwave signal to her. Anything was probably possible here, to be honest. You went through that heavy metal door with the key card slots. The booming music was gone and it was terrifyingly silent. Lucas hadn't said a word when you went through rooms full of mannequins and strange machines. You stopped hitting him to gaze in a mixture of curiosity and fear at the contents of these rooms. Eventually, Lucas dropped you on the ground when you came to a room that was contrastingly bare. It had a desk, a lot of cameras, and some computer screens. It was similar to Lucas' room in the basement. Amongst the cameras you even spotted your GoPro. Lucas flicked a switch on a camera and monitor in front of him. "Sorry bout that - now, where were we? Oh yeah. Do you like cards?" You held yourself up on the back of your arms to try and see who Lucas was talking to. "Of course you do." Lucas heard you moving and he swatted his hand at you to stop. "Well I've made up a game especially for you two." You looked at him worriedly. Who the hell was he talking to. "Except we don't bet with chips around here." Lucas leaned up close to the monitor. "If you catch my drift." He chuckled and covered the camera before flicking it off. You looked at him questionably. Lucas spun around to you and met your gaze. "Now, I ain't that bad." Lucas grabbed a wire cutter from the table and bent down to you. He snapped the wires off your ankles. You would've made a run for the door but it was locked shut. "You just gotta stay quiet until I say so, comprende?" You narrowed your eyes. He took this as a yes. 

A while passed, and Lucas explained what was going on. "Basically, I got this experiment set up here." He pointed to the screen. "Got two idiots tied up fightin' for their lives in a game of cards. I'm calling it: does pain make you smart?" You would've scoffed at the idea had it not been for the tape. A red light would occasionally flash on a box on top of the monitor. When it did, Lucas hit a button. "Pre-recorded shit. Can't be bothered to tell these losers who's a step closer to gettin' their lives every time." A green light flashed on the box. "Oh shit, it's show time!" Lucas switched another monitor on and looked at it. It looked like a scoreboard, with "C" and "H" on the top of two columns. C and a 4 underneath, and H had a 1. "Damn!" Lucas said excitedly. He clicked on the microphone for the camera, while leaving the video feed off, and turned back to you. "Hang on, you gotta see this." He grabbed your arm and pulled you off the floor and onto his lap, in shot of the camera. You struggled against him as he switched the monitor on. There, sitting in a darkened room with his hand caught in a metal trap, was Clancy. Your eyes widened as you started to call his name. Clancy looked up at the screen. His face was full of sweat and tears. He looked tired as hell, and more rough than before. His eyes brightened when he saw you. "Holy shit!" He said. Lucas laughed. "Such a sweet reunion. Shame I gotta interrupt." You elbowed Lucas in the ribs. Another man was sitting across from Clancy with his hand in the same trap, except, he only had one finger. It looked like the others were sliced off. You looked worriedly at Clancy. "And the winner is..." Lucas held onto your waist tightly. Your eyes darted from Clancy to Lucas, and back again. 

"Hoffman!" Clancy immediately looked panicked. A small blade rose from the contraption above his pinky finger. It looked like a miniature guillotine. "No, no-no!" Clancy said. You tried to protest but your screams were muffled. Suddenly the blade came crashing down on Clancy's finger and it fell off. Clancy let out a blood-curdling scream as he banged the table with his free hand. The memory of Jack hacking off your leg flashed into your mind. You clawed the computer screen, as if it would do anything to help him. Lucas was still laughing behind you. "That is unfortunate, Clancy. Better luck next time." Lucas switched off the feed to Clancy. You continued to scream for him. You felt tears brewing on your eyelids. Lucas had his arm wrapped tightly around you, and you thrashed about in his grip. You screamed "fuck you"s and "you sick fuck"s through the tape. "Now now, calm down." Lucas rested his chin on your shoulder. 

"The show ain't over yet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It PAINS me to hurt Clancy but that's just how life is. In a way, we are all Clancy


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love a good card game.

"Aside from those hiccups," Lucas pointed at the monitor, "Looks like Clancy's pretty good at cards." The scoreboard was now 8 to Clancy and 2 to Hoffman. After Clancy lost his ring finger, you stopped communicating with Lucas. You pretended he wasn't there and you were in a perfect dream world. You were sitting in the ground, feeling tears dry on your cheeks. You couldn't stop crying every time he hurt Clancy. And the other guy, Hoffman, always screamed in such agony. You knew it was painful but the screams made it worse. Lucas upped the ante and introduced a machine that delivered deadly shocks to the loser's hand. Clancy had won the round, and you thought maybe it was over. 

"He's dead. He's fucking dead now, alright? Tell me we're done." Clancy shouted. He was looking in horror at the fried man in front of him. He said he had a family, and Clancy felt sick that he killed him. You looked up at Lucas. "Ok Clancy, you won fair and square. Guess I'll set you -" Hoffman jolted. Sounds of sparks came from behind him. You looked intently at the monitor. "Huh?" Lucas said. "We'll blow me down. Look at Hoffman!" Lucas pressed a button. "I'm Hoffman, and I feel fine!" Lucas make a mockery of Hoffman's voice. You looked at him in disgust. "I think we should play another round!" Lucas let go of the button. "Did you hear that? Hoffman, you tough son of a bitch!" Clancy stared at Hoffman, wide-eyed. "Like the man said, we got to play another round!" Clancy became furious. "What the fuck is wrong with you?" He shouted. "You promised to let me go!" Lucas started giggling softly. "Hey, you sick fuck! Talk to me!" The lights went out in both your room and Clancy's room. Your eyes darted around the darkness. "Oh, what the fuck now?" Clancy shouted. A few moments later, they came back on, and Lucas was walking over to his chair. You didn't even know he left. "I want to bring out a dear friend for our grand finale." Lucas said as he sat down. He leaned over and grabbed your wrist, pulling you off the floor to make sure you got a good view of the screen. He flipped one of the many switches on the desk and you could hear metal and gears turning. "Meet - Mr. Saw!" A huge saw made from roughly sharpened metal lowered from the ceiling. You shouted through the duct tape. "We got the distance left to Hoffman," The saw turned around and spun towards the man, "And Clancy, this is how far to you!" You couldn't see the numbers on the saw but it was dangerously close to Clancy's face. The saw moved back into the middle. "This is how much distance you're playing for." Lucas sat you down on his leg. "Just think of it as a massage - all shiatsu-like." A sadistic look returned to Lucas' face. "But you better enjoy it. Cause it's the last massage you're ever gonna get." Lucas smiled to himself. "If your turn now!" He imitated Hoffman again. Clancy glared. "You enjoying this, you prick?" Lucas turned off the microphone and dealt the cards with the push of a button. You turned around to punch Lucas in the chest. "Woah, woah, woah there, sweetie pie." He grinned. "Just like I said before - Clancy's pretty good at this game. But is pretty good enough?" He taunted. You tried to push yourself off of him but he held you firmly down. "Oh no, you're gonna wanna watch this."

•

Zach watched astonishingly as Ethan walked into the old house. He never knew there was another person here - maybe they were new? If they were, they wouldn't know never to come here. He ran from the upstairs window to the stair. He watched as Ethan came through the door. In his had was a shotgun, and he looked a bit pissed off. Zach didn't want to go up to him in case he shot him out of fear. Not that it would matter to Zach, he'd just heal anyway. Ethan investigated the desk in the hall, read a note, and put it back down to walk around the corner. Zach stayed hidden on the stairs behind the wall. Suddenly, Eveline appeared at the edge of the hole in the bottom floor. Ethan noticed her and stared at her. Just as soon as she appeared, she was gone. Both men sighed in relief. Zach really hated Eveline. When he looked back up at the other side of the hole, Ethan was gone. Zach hoped he was here to fix something. Maybe even kill Marguerite. "Maybe my luck is turning." Zach said to himself. 

•

Watching Clancy play for his life was torture in itself. Having Lucas make you watch it added to the awfulness. Lucas was enjoying the game, but you saw him clench a fist when Clancy started going on a winning streak. Clancy looked at his trump cards, and shook his head. 

"To hell with this." He drew a card with a love heart with an arrow going through it. "Huh!?" Lucas gasped. "Hey, what the hell?" Clancy didn't look at the screen. "I'm gonna stay." "Son of a...!" Lucas became increasingly angrier. "I'm ending this!" Clancy said defiantly. The saw in the middle of the two men fighting for their lives came to life. Clancy didn't feel as bad for this one, however, because Hoffman was technically dead. The saw approached Hoffman but at the last second he seemed to wake up from death. Clancy's mouth dropped. The saw didn't stop, and it grinder into Hoffman's face before he could realise what was happening. Awful drowning sounds came from his as Hoffman gargled his own blood. "We're done now, right?" Clancy asked desperately. Lucas sat back in his chair, you still on his lap. He wrapped his arm around your neck and slowly clapped as the monitor was broadcast to Clancy. You grabbed Lucas' arm to try pull it off you. Clancy looked at you, trying to be reassuring. "Will you let me go now?" Clancy was tired, physically and emotionally. "You are one cold son of a bitch!" Lucas praised. "Now you impress me so much, I'm gonna give you an extra reward." You doubted it was any real kind of reward. Lucas dropped his arm from your neck and left it slung over your shoulder. "We gonna play another game, you and me," Lucas giggle, "Oh, ain't life grand?" Clancy panicked. "No! I can't take this anymore! Please!" You turned to Lucas and tried to plead with him too. The duct tape was really annoying you. Lucas told you if you tried to tear it off, he'd say fuck it and just kill Clancy anyway. Lucas turned off his end of the video feed. You could hear Clancy starting to cry. "Please, god..." The monitors in Clancy's room turned off one by one. "Fuck!" He cried. 

•

Zoe couldn't believe you were still alive. 

Over the phone, Ethan told her he met you. She was delighted, to say the least. She regretted throwing you out, but she couldn't find you anywhere. Ethan also told her you went back to get something but didn't return. Zoe had Ethan now to get the serum, she shouldn't need you, right? But you were her friend. She hoped, anyway. Sure, Zoe had Mia, but over the last three years they've only held a handful of conversations where she wasn't out of her mind. You were the first sane person Zoe had spoken to in ages. And now you were gone again, just like that. And to add insult to injury you were infected. Zoe told Lucas not to hurt you. She should never have trusted him. 

•

Lucas hugged you from behind. "It's just great, isn't it? Seein' everything come together. Now, I got a surprise for you." The look on your face could kill someone right now. Your eyelids were have closed as you tried to ignore the incoming migraine. "And before you say anythin'- wait, you can't." Lucas giggled. You closed your eyes and swayed in his arms. Shaking your head, you resumed your previous death glare at the turned-off monitor. "Someone sleepy?" Lucas whispered in your ear. You didn't pay attention to the shiver it sent down your neck as you tried to concentrate on not fainting again. You knew what was coming, you saw Eveline's reflection in the screen. She giggled and ran away into nothingness. You said something but it was muffled by the tape. "D'you wanna speak now?" Lucas asked rhetorically as he ripped off the tape. You groaned in discomfort. You probably would've shouted in pain if your senses weren't dulled. "Oh boy, this is gonna make the next round interestin'." You tried to scoff at him but you couldn't get a word out of your mouth. "Don't even try anything..." you said tiredly. You fell back against Lucas' chest. He snaked an arm around your waist. "You just rest there now." He teased. "Fuck off..? What is, where am I?" Your headache increased and you rubbed your temple. "No, no, I'm not... is here, Clancy, is here. I'm in..." You shook your head as if it would get the memories back. You could feel the hold on yourself slipping away, while Lucas only tightened his grip on you. "Fucking hell, what is wrong... wrong, w-with you?!" You half-shouted. Lucas breathed in. "Having trouble speakin' there? Maybe keeping the tape on would be a better idea." Lucas suggested. You looked away from him. "N-not this time, I won't let you." Your speech was becoming a bit slurred. Lucas placed his hand under your chin and turned you back to him. "Come on now, just give in to it." He smiled. It was almost a friendly, sympathetic one. You knew it dropped with falseness. Your heart rate was slowing down and speeding up at random intervals. "Is, it's, not, I'm...? What are am I doing here?" You looked around the room. Suddenly your head flipped back onto Lucas' shoulder. "Lucas, you're... Lucas, and I'm... where's Zach?" Lucas played with the belt loops on your jeans. "Just you and me here, baby." You pushed his hand away. "Your... Fucking dad... took my leg off... fucking Bakers..." Lucas looked at the duct tape. "You didn't... you didn't tape it back together, did you?" He was genuinely curious. He doubted he'd get a straightforward answer from you right now. "No! First aid m-med... miracle water... who are you?" Lucas rolled his eyes. "Well, better get you put in place, before this shit wears off. It's hilarious." Lucas picked you up and carried you back through the white-daubed rooms and machinery. 

You plopped onto the chair Lucas dropped you in. You could feel yourself stiffening up as he tied something around you. You were too dazed to think about what was going on. You hated this feeling, like you were constantly sinking and rising. It almost made you nauseous. When Lucas was done he took your right hand. You didn't really know what he did with it and you didn't really care. All you cared about was focusing on not vomiting because of the waves of deliciousness that washed over you. "Hey, h-hey, are you there?" Someone said. You thought they were talking to you. You couldn't really find words in your brain right now. You heard a door shutting. Moments later, light filled the room. You looked up and saw Clancy sitting across from you. Even in the state you were in you recognised your friend. "Holy fuck! It's you!" He said. He didn't notice your strange behaviour at first. "C-Clancy? Is that... Clancy? Who are..." You swayed back and forth slightly in your right restraints. Lucas had strapped your body to the chair tightly with leather belts. Your right hand was caught up in the same contraption Clancy's left hand was. You stared at his cut off fingers. You heard static behind you and you tried to turn around but your restraints prevented you from doing so. "So, now we have the final round. And, that is final, final. I promise." Lucas said from behind you. "What the fuck did he do to you?" Clancy asked, concerned. You shook your head. "Don't worry... he's, get out of here Clancy." You nearly started crying. Clancy turned to the screens angrily. "Hey! Get her out of here, you fucking asshole!" He shouted. Lucas tutted. "Ah, ah, ah. Don't swear in the presence of a lady." He joked. "Clancy, you already know how the game's played, and so does our beloved here. She's been watchin' you do a great job back here with me." Lucas winked. Clancy gritted his teeth. "Listen up now, I'm about to explain why this round is particularly special. Y'see, I don't want my sweetheart here to die." Clancy looked at you. You were staring at the table, your head bobbing slightly. He felt so sorry for you. "Shu... 'm not your..." You whispered. "So if she gets hurt, you're gonna die. If she doesn't, well, you're gonna die!" The saw from the middle of the table was gone now, but you knew Lucas had a gorier death in mind. "That isn't fucking fair! How am I supposed to win!?" Clancy demanded. Lucas laughed. "Well Clancy, I have a deal you might be interested in." Clancy raised an eyebrow. "If you lose, I'll throw you a party. Only if you lose though. How does that sound?" Clancy shut his eyes and sighed. "Fine, whatever. Let's just get on with it." Clancy adjusted himself in his chair and placed his hand on the table, clenching his fist. You looked up at Clancy, struggling to say what you really wanted to say. "Clancy, Clancy..." You said as the cards were dealt. The two electro-shock machines from earlier were back. They were both at the lowest voltage. "Listen to me. Hey, listen to me." Clancy said softly. "It's gonna be ok. I can handle whatever this douchebag is going on about. I'll lose, and you'll be ok." You teared up. "No, Clancy... please don't, you..." Clancy looked as the trump cards rolled out. He took them, knowing he wasn't going to use them. "Use all of your special cards." The TVs buzzed on. "Wow, hold on there pal, you ain't playin' her." Clancy was confused. "She's just a, a step-in. I've got my own cards right here." Lucas held up his deck. Clancy felt even more bad for you. "It's time Clancy. I'm gonna stay." Lucas smiled. Clancy looked down at his cards. He had a 6 and a 4. "Give me another." A card flew out of the dispenser. A 7. He looked up to Lucas. "I think I'll have another one." Clancy also took another, and got 23 in total. "I'll stay." He said. Lucas smirked. He turned his deck around. There were three blank cards, and one that said 21. "What the fuck!? You can't do that!" Clancy shouted as Lucas laughed. "Oh, can't I? Unlucky, Clancy." The rating on the shock machine went up to five. "Hey-!" Before Clancy could finish the metal rods stabbed him in the hand. He shook violently and you screamed. "Lucas! Lucas-s!" You cried. Lucas stopped shocking Clancy. Small burns appeared on his skin. "Stop i-it, stop i-it!" You screamed. You tried to take your hand out of the trap but you couldn't even slightly wiggle it. You could feel anger building up in the pit of your stomach, along with a growing bloodlust. Clancy looked on in horror as your skin turned grey and your eyes dyed an inky black. You threw your head back and screeched. "W-what the fuck!? What the fuck!?" Clancy shouted as he tried to get out of his own restraints. You looked down at Clancy through narrowed eyes. "Woohoo! That's my girl!" Lucas cheered. "What did you do to her!?" Clancy was terrified, not only of you but what he did to you. "Shut the fuck up!" You roared. Clancy jumped at your outburst. Your face twisted in pain. "Ok, ok! I give up! Do whatever the fuck you want with me, just help her!" Clancy shouted. "I'm sorry, what was that?" Lucas leaned in to the screen. "I said let her go! Take me, god DAMNIT if that's what you want!" Clancy was really upset. He couldn't lose another friend here. Lucas thought about it for a second. "Ok." The lights shut off again, but Clancy could still see you. "I, I-I... god, that asshole..." Clancy looked at you sadly. You thrashed around in your chair. "Enough! Stop it!" You shouted. Clancy shook his head. "I am so sorry this happened to you." Clancy said, before being hit over the head and blacking out once again.


	14. Chapter 14

"Lucas," Marguerite began, a scowl on her face, "Did you, or did you not, break Zoe's laptop? And I know when you're lyin'." Lucas glared at the wall. His head was leaning against his hand, which was in a fist. He and Zoe were sitting on opposite ends of the couch in the living room. "I didn't." He said. "Liar!" Zoe shouted. "Calm down! Lucas, are you bein' one-hundred percent honest with me? Don't even think about lyin' to your own mother." Marguerite looked him in the eye. Lucas sighed. "It fell, I just happened to be holdin' it." "See, mama? I told you!" Lucas shot Zoe a look. "Shut up, I was only usin' it because you smashed my phone!" Marguerite threw her hands up in the air. "Shut up, both of you! I swear, back when I was fifteen all we had to play with were each other and a little creativity!" Zoe and Lucas rolled their eyes in unison. "It isn't 1885 anymore, mama." "You watch your tone, Zoe Baker!" Lucas laughed a little. "Lucas, say sorry for Zoe for the laptop. And you Zoe, you apologise to your brother for breakin' his phone." The siblings looked in either one's general direction, avoiding each other's eyes. "Sorry." They mumbled. Marguerite put her hands on her hips. "Good. No go on back to your room before your daddy hears about this." The teens scattered, the prospect of Jack finding out about the argument enough to motivate them. Marguerite sighed and sat on the couch. "One day, they're gonna learn to appreciate each other."

•

Your arms were red raw from struggling against the belts so much. Not that it really mattered, you'd just heal up instantly anyway. In your hostile state you just wanted to scream and kill. It was a feeling so foreign yet at the same time so natural. Eveline was by your side, whispering in your ear. "Are you gonna let Lucas kill Clancy? That leaves only him and Zach for you to marry." You became increasingly furious as she spoke. "I say you kill them all. Right now, why not? You could still be my big sis." Eveline was teasing you, trying to get you worked up enough to attack anything and anyone the moment you laid eyes on them. 

Lucas had knocked Clancy out by hitting him over the head with a plank of wood. You growled and he came closer to you. "Way to go, sugar. And you didn't even have to kill anyone." Lucas petted your head. You shook yourself away from him. "Fuck you! Get away from me!" You snarled. Lucas smiled. "I'll fix you right up." He turned the voltage on the electro shock machine up all the way. "Just remember, this is gonna hurt me way more than it hurts you." He pressed a button and the steel rods slammed into your hand, sending a vicious current through your body. You screamed, not in pain, but from the feeling of the electricity shaking and paralysing you. When your skin returned to its normal (relatively) healthy colour, Lucas turned the voltage down until it was off. You were breathing heavily as you bent over the table. Your vision was blurry and you jolted every few seconds from aftershocks. "Good, you're back." You rested your head on the table. "F-f-f-fuck." You said shakily. Lucas got down beside you. Even sitting down, he was taller than you. "I know, right? Some powerful shit that is." He flicked the machine. You were still shivering. "W-w-what d-id y-you do t-to C-C-Clancy?" You choked out. He was sitting unconscious in the chair, shoulders slouched, his head hanging. "Don't worry 'bout him right now." Lucas started undoing the restraints. He stood up and grabbed your arm, bringing you with him. Your knees fell out and you banged off the table. You hissed and tried to stand up again, swatting Lucas away. "H-h-help Clan-n-ncy." You leaned across the table and took hold of his hands. Lucas sighed sharply. "He'll be fine." He tugged on your arm and you let go of Clancy's hands. You hadn't been shivering while you were holding them. You stood up and had no choice but to leave with Lucas. You couldn't walk properly and Lucas offered no support. You left the dark room, leaving Clancy behind. 

You stumbled into Lucas when your weak legs couldn't take anymore. He put his arm around you and led you through the rooms, and there it was again. The not-so-crazy Lucas you'd caught sight of before. He looked down at you, not with a twisted smile or a laugh, but with a blank expression, which was better than nothing you guessed. You trusted him a bit more when he was like this. "P-p-please don't h-hurt Clanc-y." You asked him. Lucas didn't respond. He brought you back to his control room and sat you on the floor. "Stay here, I gotta do something." You paralysed hands were locked onto his hoodie. Lucas like this made you almost forget about all of the awful things he did. What if the infection just drove him mad, and he actually was aware of himself sometimes, like you? Lucas took hold of your wrists and took your hands off of him. He left without another word, locking the door. You sat there, not shaking as much as you were earlier. 

•

Lucas stared at the needle as he injected it into his forearm. An icy chill spread through his veins. He felt relief, mixed with an annoyance at himself, and a hint of guilt. The more time he spent with you, the more he wanted to give up these injections. But, they kept him immune from Eveline without her even knowing, and that was a valuable survival tool. He knew you hated him. Even in his messy insanity, he could tell you just wanted to leave with Clancy and Zach and live happily ever after. He wanted that for you, he really did, but he was caught between wanting to join you and being able to put all of his inventions and twisted ideas to good use. And mixing them up with you wasn't good for anyone. 

•

You were asleep on the cold concrete floor when Lucas returned. He was slightly jittery and back to his usual self. You sighed and placed a hand on your head. Lucas was whistling a tune. "You know what never gets old? Seein' a guy's head just explode out of no where." You couldn't look at him. "Well, out of no where is an understatement. He head butted a wire trap." Lucas put his finger under your chin and lifted your head up. "What happened to you, Lucas?" His smile wavered a bit. Deep down, he wanted to tell you, but the cloudiness of the drugs and insanity was preventing him from spilling any truth. "Nothin', nothin' but good things." He crouched in front of you. You took your head out of his grasp and sat up, your back against the wall. You still felt weak and some of your muscles twitched. "Still feel like shit? That amount of volts woulda killed a normal person, but baby, you fuckin' rocked it." Lucas said excitedly. You wrapped your arms around yourself. How could anyone be proud of turning into that... that monster? "Don't get all bothered." Lucas said, noticing your mood. "Fuck off, Lucas." You snapped. Lucas' smile disappeared. "It don't matter how you feel anyhow. The fun and games are about to begin." He stormed out, leaving you alone again. 

•

Clancy whimpered as Lucas dragged him along the floor. "What'd you do to her?" He asked, trying to free his wrists. Lucas smiled. "To who?" Clancy tried to kick himself free from Lucas' grip. "To my friend." He said shakily. Lucas laughed. "Well I didn't fuck her if that'll put your mind at ease." Clancy scowled at him. Lucas pulled him harder around a corner. Clancy continued to struggle and panic. "You, my friend, you are one lucky son of a bitch." Clancy looked at him, confused. Lucas dropped his legs and turned around to punch a code into the keypad beside a door. "You know, I actually envy you." Clancy didn't say anything. "What? You don't believe me?" Lucas stood over Clancy, bending down to his face. Clancy's whimpering was stopped by the breath he held. "This joy? Why you can't fake this." Clancy saw just how insane Lucas was by looking into his eyes. He wasn't faking it, there wasn't an element of normality in there. Just pure sadism. Lucas backed up and grabbed Clancy's legs again. He pulled him through the metal door. "It has taken me weeks to finish this, and it is finally ready." Clancy nearly started crying. "And it's all for you..." Lucas took a knife out of his back pocket and cut the zip ties on Clancy's wrists. "Aw, come on now. Don't be like that. This is going to be fun. Just you wait." Lucas left Clancy in the darkness. He shut the metal door as Clancy climbed to his feet. He turned around and saw a very creepy looking clown robot thing, holding a long white candle. Clancy took a deep breath as he took the candle out of the clown's hand. What did that psycho fuck have in store for him now?

•

Zach couldn't believe his eyes. The crazy bastard that wandered into the old house was actually trying to kill Marguerite. He'd unloaded countless shotgun rounds into what Zach described as a bug pussy. Literally. Zach stealthily rooted the blond guy on by silently following the vicious fight. "Go, random dude, go!" Zach whispered from around the corner. In a delightful turn of events the man whipped out a flame thrower to finish the crazed woman off. "Holy fuck." Zach watched as the man fearlessly spewed flames onto Marguerites body. She cried and screamed in pain until finally, she dropped to her knees. Zach's eyes widened. This was it. Marguerite started to calcify, turning into a rock solid white statue. After she was completely covered, her calcified self cracked and shattered into a million pieces. The flies that were buzzing around her fell to the floor, dead. Zach smiled broadly. She was finally fucking dead! He didn't think it was possible. The man who killed her sighed in relief. He was covered in cuts and bruises, fresh from the battle. Zach wanted to thank him, shake his hand, give him a Nobel prize. He waited until he was reloading to make a move from behind his corner. "Hey-" Ethan pointed his shotgun up at Zach immediately. He was still full of adrenaline and ready to take anyone else on. Even though he'd dropped all the shells he'd been trying to reload the gun with. Zach held his hands up in surrender. "Hey, hey, hey! Woah, I'm not a psycho!" Zach said. Ethan looked him up and down. "I-I'm Zach. That bitch Marguerite had me trapped in here." Zach tried to explain everything so Ethan wouldn't be as hostile. It worked, and he lowered his gun. "You're not another Baker?" Zach shook his head no. "No way." Ethan picked the shells he'd dropped off the ground, reloading his gun with them. "You, you really did kill her, didn't you?" Zach said, still in disbelief. "I hope so." Ethan said bitterly. Zach looked around him. No more bugs. Maybe he was fixed now too? "Did you come from the other house?" Zach asked. Ethan nodded. Zach's eyes lit up. "Did you happen to run into anyone? A woman, she's my friend." Ethan thought for a second. "Yeah, I did. She said she got kidnapped too." Zach smiled slightly. "H-how long ago was it?" Ethan looked at him. "I don't know, maybe an hour ago?" Zach sighed. Ok, he thought, you'd made it this far. Surely you were still ok. Still alive. "Thank you." Zach said, and walked past Ethan. He'd managed to set up some kind of bridge across the hole in the ground. "Hey, where are you going?" Ethan shouted after him. Zach looked over his shoulder. "To the big mansion. I have to find my friend." Ethan could sympathise. "Without any weapons? You'll die." Zach turned back to the hall door. He could feel a churning in his stomach. He shut his eyes and clenched his fists. If he was going to find you, he was going to control this. "I think I'll manage."

•

You didn't want to hang around the control room to wait for Lucas. Almost immediately after you left you got up and started looking for a way out. The rooms in this place weren't like the other house. There were barely any hallways, and all the rooms were connected. Strange machines and tools were scattered over desks and the floor. You nearly stood on a screwdriver one. You didn't know where you were going, this place was like a labyrinth. "Where the fuck is the exit?" You hoped every door you opened would answer your question. You thought at one point you could hear a machine in the floor below you. "This is hopeless." You said as you stumbled through another room. Lucas had a creepily large collection of mannequins, you noticed. On one of the desks you nearly walked into was a photograph. On the back was written "Are they watching us from up there?" Curious, you flipped the picture over. It was a helicopter with a blue and white symbol on the table. You vaguely recognised it. "Umbrella?" You examined it further. Wasn't that the company that caused the pandemic in Raccoon City? You remember your mother telling you about it. She said they were going to go there once, but after the T-Virus outbreak you never went. Even nineteen years later, people were still iffy about it. You put the photo back on the desk. Did Umbrella have something to do with what was going on here? With their shady background, you didn't rule it out. But the logo was different, wasn't it? It was blue and white now. 

You opened yet another white door into yet another white room. Whoever painted these rooms, probably Lucas, was really bad at it. It looked like he grabbed the paint can and threw it at the walls. You looked at the floorboards. There was tarp rolled up on the ground, and splashes of blue and green paint around them. The room was oddly empty as well. There was another door at the other side. You cautiously opened it. "Oh thank god." The cold breeze welcomed you to the outside. You were on the other side of the fence and metal door from earlier, the one Lucas had carried you through. The rooms were so interlaced you couldn't tell where you were going from the first time you went through them. You descended the stairs and shook the door. Locked, of course. You grunted and dropped your arms. You looked at the stairs and thought for a second about squeezing through them again. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. You heard the creaking of a rusty gate and whipped your head around. It was the gate behind the trailer opening. You hid behind the door and listened out for who it was. 

"So, you killed the Dad too?" You heard a familiar voice say. "Yeah, again, I hope." You recognised the other voice as Ethan. The two walked into a clear view and you nearly screamed when you saw him. You climbed onto the stairs where they could see you. "Zach!? Zach, holy shit!" You called. Zach turned around and dropped his jaw. "Oh my god!" He ran over to you. You grabbed the fence as he came up to you. "You're alright! I can't believe it." You said. Zach shook his head. "I can't believe I'm out of there. I'm so fucking happy to see you." He said. You started to tear up. "I thought, I thought I killed you." You said. Ethan stood at a distance behind your reunion. He was a little envious. "No, no, no, I'm fine! What happened to you? Are you ok?" Zach asked. He grabbed hold of your hands through the fence. "I-I..." You couldn't lie to him. "Listen, I think whatever happened to you happened to me." You said honestly. Zach squeezed your hands. "Oh god..." You and Zach looked at each other. "I don't know what we're going to do."

Ethan coughed. You both looked at him. "Sorry, uh, I'm just going to go into the house to look for what to do next." He said awkwardly. You nodded. He nodded back and walked off. "He's a good guy. A bit on edge, but who wouldn't be around here." You commented as Ethan walked into the mansion. The lights that were swinging above you suddenly shut off. "What's going on?" Zach asked. Your head darted around the stairs. "I don't know. Please, we've gotta find a way out of here, before he comes back." Zach looked at you curiously. "Before who comes back?" "Lucas, he's the Baker's son. Zach, he's a fucking freak." You said. Zach nodded. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find something." You looked behind Zach and saw Eveline standing there, her hair covering her face. You gasped and Zach turned around. "What is it?" He asked. He couldn't see her. "E-Eveline. She's right there!" You pointed behind him. She started walking towards you. Zach looked at your panicked face. "Hey, hey, calm down. It might just be a hallucination." Zach tried to take hold of your hands again. Eveline was nearly beside him. "S-stay away Evie!" You cried. "Who's it gonna be?" She said darkly. You started shaking. "Zach, Lucas, Clancy? Make a choice." You shook your head. "Woah, hey, come back to me." Zach said softly. "Pick one," Eveline stood beside Zach, "Pick one," she walked straight through the gate and stepped up onto the stairs, "Pick one!" She screamed in your face, and disappeared. "Stop it!" You screamed, tears leaking out of your eyes. Zach stood there, feeling useless. You grabbed the sides of your head. "Get me out of here, Zach! I want to go home!" You said between sobs. Zach became increasingly upset in your miserably state. "I will, I promise, we'll both get out of here. I promise."

•

Clancy had felt pain, but nothing like this before. The sound and smell of his own burning flesh was disgusting and agonising. He tried to swat the flames off of him, but it didn't work. He'd just placed the final candle in the cake when it exploded and ignited the oil that he'd spilled all over the floorboards. There was no way out, the door behind him was blocked and he couldn't turn the sprinklers on. He knew what was coming. He tried to accept it as fast as he could but the intense fire climbed its way up to his head. At least his corpse wouldn't have the word 'Loser' engraved on his arm. He screamed and shouted for some sort of relief and it came in the form of a creeping darkness. His senses were dulling, and he fell to the floor. He wanted to keep fighting, but he just couldn't. This was it, this was how Clancy Javis was to die. Burning alive in a madhouse. In his last moments, he thought of Pete and Andre, of the phone call he received last week about the Dulvey haunted house, and how excited he was to catch a glimpse of a ghost. He thought of Andre dying, then Pete, and now him. And no one was going to find out about it. Clancy also thought of you, and just before he felt the cold grip of death, he wished a better life for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter, but I think it needed to be.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy (belated) St. Patrick's Day!

"Seventy-four." Zoe said. "What?" Lucas asked, confused. "Seventy-four times you've disappeared up to the attic in two days. It's a new record." Lucas stopped scrolling through his phone. "So?" "Its weird." "Why is it weird?" "What do you even do up there?" Lucas rolled his eyes. "Boy stuff." "Gross!" "No, Zoe! Not like that." Lucas was tempted to ascend back into the attic again. "Well, why don't you let me up there?" Lucas pointed up to the hatch on the ceiling. A piece of paper with "no girl's allowed" was stuck to it. "That's a stupid sign." "You're a stupid person." "Lucas!" Zoe crossed her arms. "Is that where you take all those broken cameras and stuff?" Lucas put his phone down. "Yeah." Zoe lay back on her bed. "I don't know how you don't get bored up there." "I got a wifi connection and food at the ready, I survive." Lucas smiled. Zoe smiled too. 

•

It's been a good while since Ethan left to check out the house. You and Zach were still in the same spot, talking about what you'd do when you got out. "Definitely getting a Big Mac. You really don't appreciate McDonald's until it's gone." Zach said. You giggled. "I prefer Burger King." "What? We can't be friends anymore, so." The two of you laughed. It was good to have a laugh with a friend, especially in a place like this, and after all the two of you had been through. "I'm not explaining to your mother what happened, either." You joked. "Neither am I, I'll just keep her guessing." He winked. "I think she'll be guessing an awful lot when bugs start crawling out of your mouth at the dinner table." Zach laughed. "And what about you?" "I'll probably start swearing them out of it and try to bite their heads off." Both of you paused for a second before laughing loudly. "That's really what happens to you? I get stuck with cockroaches and bees, and you get a bad skin day." Making fun at your conditions was easing the intense anxiety they brought. "How did you get infected?" Zach thought for a second. "I can't remember, really. It's hazy. I can remember waking up and puking bugs everywhere though." You envied him. "What about you?" You sighed. "Oh, Lucas force-fed me some gross black shit. Honestly? Zero out of ten. McDonald's wouldn't even serve that shit." You laughed. "He force fed you?" Zach asked. "Don't even ask, Zach." You shook your head. You looked behind him and saw Ethan coming out of the house. "Did you find anything useful?" You asked. Ethan joined you and Zach at the gate. "Yeah. I'm missing two keys though, a scorpion and snake one." You put your hand to your back pocket. For some reason, you still had it. As well as your weapons and supplies. Maybe Lucas trusted you more than he should, or he knew you realised you couldn't kill him with just bullets. "Here." You pushed the key threw the gate. "Thanks, I think I'll head into the trailer and see if Zoe's gonna call." You gripped the wires. You wanted to see Zoe again, you didn't care about her throwing you out anymore. You felt bad for her, and she was your friend. You wanted her out of here too. 

When Ethan closed the door of the trailer the lights on the stairs came back on. They were like black lights now. "What's going on?" Zach asked. "I, I don't know." You said. Ethan came out of the trailer, his demeanour one of frustration. "God, fuck the Bakers." He spat. "What happened?" You asked. Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Lucas has Zoe and my- Mia. I have to find the two key cards to open that door." He said. You suddenly remembered all about Mia. Now that you think of it, you and her acted the same way before you went crazy. Maybe she was the same as you. Great, even more people to disinfect. Would you have enough serum? "I'm going back into the house." Without another word he stormed off. "Hey, this probably isn't the best time to bring this up," You turned your attention to Zach, "But Ethan was carrying a really gross looking arm earlier." "I know, I noticed it, but I thought it was best not to say anything." You both nodded at the same time. "It's more than likely for the serum, the one that could help up get rid of the infection." Zach half-smiled at you. You both jumped when you heard a door crash open at the top of the stairs. "Oh no." You said. Zach looked worried. "Fuck, Zach, I think it's Lucas." You said. Or a molded, and you'd rather take one of those guys on than meet Lucas again. Zach held onto your hands. "Well look-y here." Lucas said, stepping out to the top of the stairs. You glared at him. "You must be Zach. Great to finally meet ya." Lucas slowly descended the steps. You stayed glued to your spot. Zach also glared at Lucas. Even his appearance was iffy. "What? Did I spoil a tearful reunion?" "Fuck off, Lucas." You said. Lucas chuckled. "Y'know, I missed that. I was gettin' terrible lonely up there." Lucas stood beside you. You noticed he was carrying a paint can. "Sorry I gotta do this, but I'm gonna need to borrow her for a second." He grabbed your arm, pulling you away from Zach. "Hey, back off." Zach snapped. For the fiftieth time you tried to get out of Lucas's grip, but you couldn't. "Let me think about it... No." Lucas yanked you to your feet. "Let her go!" Zach tightened his grip on the fence. "Zach, it's alright. Just go to Ethan. I can handle myself." You used your free hand to take hold of Zach's hand. "Ain't that sweet." Lucas said sarcastically. He looked at Zach, who was still glaring at him. "Don't worry, I won't rough her up," Lucas started climbing the stairs again, "Too much." As Lucas laughed cynically you kept eye contact with Zach until you were pulled around the corner. "Woah, y'didnt fight much that time. You enjoying my company now?" Lucas teased. You rolled your eyes. "No, we both know you have fucked up DNA so you could snap my arm off in a second." You said plainly. Lucas was a little speechless. He dropped the paint can. The paint inside glowed fluorescent blue under the black lights. "Tell you what," he took a paintbrush out of his back pocket, "I'll let you help me with a little art project." Knowing you were smart enough to just run back down the stairs when he let you go, Lucas produced some zip ties. You frowned. He tied the plastic cuffs around your wrists and ankles. "And just for good measure," Lucas took a roll of duct tape out of his hoodie pocket, "So you don't go screamin' for that boyfriend of yours." He ripped a piece off. "You bastar-" Lucas stuck the piece over your mouth before you could finish. Lucas leaned in to your face. "Do you think he'd get mad if we fucked right here and now?" You screamed and shouted at him, although it was muffled. "Yeah, probably not the best idea." Lucas suddenly kissed you through the tape. You wanted to kill him right then and there. Even though there was duct tape between your lips and his, it still felt wrong. You whipped your head back off of him. "Maybe later." He stood up and picked the paintbrush up with him. "Now, what do you think sounds better? 'Let's play' or 'Time to die'?" You looked at him in disgust. "You're right. Don't wanna give anything away." Lucas stuck the paintbrush into the can and started making an L on the wall. You silently scooted to the corner to get a look at Zach. He was gone. You sighed in relief. Lucas noticed you and quickly grabbed your wrists to yank you back. He got blue paint all over shirt. Even though fashion was the least of your worries right now, it still bothered you. You liked that shirt. 

•

Zach didn't know where he was going. That scared him, along with all the groaning he heard from the basement. But if he ever learned one thing from video games, it was that if there were monsters somewhere, it was probably the right place to go. That applied to real life too, right? He walked down the stairs at a snail's pace. He wanted to call for Ethan but he didn't know if it would alert an enemy. More groaning and slushing sounds came from the hallways around him. Zach could feel his legs shaking. "Damnit, why did this place had to have a creepy basement."

•

You were slouched against the wall as you watched Lucas paint his message. "Ain't that just so invitin'?" Lucas asked, dropping the paintbrush into the bucket. The paint he had splashed on you dripped down onto you're jeans. You really liked those jeans, too. In fact, you liked your whole outfit. Why you wore it into the middle of a bayou you didn't know. Although to be fair, you also didn't know you were going to be kidnapped and put through hell. Lucas turned to you and licked his lips. You hoped he wouldn't try anything again. "Now that is a great sight." You didn't bother looking up at him. "Wonder what you'd be like at a rave." He laughed. You actually had been to a rave once. Zach convinced you to go. You don't know how you got home but you woke up in the bathtub covered in glow sticks and bead necklaces. "I don't understand why you're bein' so prude." Lucas purred. You shouted at him again. "What happens in the bayou stays in the bayou." He said, trying to convince you as he crouched down beside you. You rolled your eyes and turned away from him. Lucas sighed. "You'd prefer Clancy, yeah?" He taunted. You looked at him. "Well that'd be an impressive feat." He stood up again, grabbing the bucket of paint. You grunted. "Hmm? What do you mean, Lucas?" He imitated your voice and laughed. "I mean, I'm sure you could try, but it'd be hard to fuck a burnt corpse." He said viciously. Your eyes widened. You started rambling questions behind the tape. "Take a good look at lover-boy." Lucas produced a picture from his pocket. It was the most gruesome phot you'd ever seen. A black mass that looked like a person was sat in a chair. You could see Clancy's baseball cap sitting on the head. No, it couldn't be him. Lucas didn't actually kill him, did he? You looked up at Lucas, who snatched the photo away again. "Still think he's hot?" Lucas joked. You couldn't believe it. Clancy was dead, and burnt alive. Your eyes quickly filled with tears and you started crying. Lucas killed him. Lucas burned him to death. Lucas crouched down once more. "Aw, don't cry." He put his arms around you and pulled you into him. You screamed and shouted as loud as you could as you squirmed in his grasp. The last thing you wanted was to be anywhere near Lucas. You repeated Clancy's name between breaths, saying how sorry you were, and how much you missed your friend. 

•

Zach slammed the door shut behind him. He was out of breath, and sweating profoundly. Luckily the molded had a particular problem with going through doors. It was the first time Zach had seen them but he recognised them immediately. "Pull yourself together, Zach." He gave himself a pep talk to leave the door. He was now in a small room with shelves in the middle of them. On the other side of them was a door, but he couldn't squeeze through the shelves to get there. He looked to his left and saw some stairs. "It goes down even more!?" Zach sighed as he was left with no other options. He walked down the stairs, listening out for more molded. When he came to the rusty double doors he took a deep breath and pushed them open. Zach looked around the now empty fighting cage. "Looks like Silent Hill." He said. With nothing else of interest (and the thought that if he stayed in one place too long he'd get attacked again) we walked up the stairs to the right. Zach eyes the door at the top of the stairs suspiciously before deciding to turn the knob. When he opened it he nearly slammed the door shut again. Ethan was nearly elbow deep in a cop's throat, and a cop with no head at that. The two of them made awkward eye contact for a good five seconds before than slowly withdrew his hand from the hole. He had takes the snake key out of the corpse. "So... found the key?" Zach said. Ethan simply nodded. "Let's uh, let's just go." Ethan and Zach left the room, silently promising not to talk about that ever again. 

•

You couldn't stop crying for Clancy. You called Lucas a monster, and it frustrated you that he didn't know what you were saying. He was still holding you tightly as you sobbed. You stopped squirming because it was no use, but having him hold you made you feel wrong. He was sitting with his back against the wall, your side pressed against his chest as you cried endlessly. You hated Lucas before but after killing Clancy you don't think there was any hope of redemption for him, at least in your eyes. The cold breeze of the night brushing against your skin made you shiver. You mumbled something under the tape. "What was that, princess?" Lucas ripped the tape off your mouth without warning. "Why are you doing this?" You said, the stinging in your lips not stopping you. Lucas rolled his eyes. "Didn't you ask me that already? Change the record!" You knew you did, but asking it brought you a feeling of satisfaction. Maybe it was being able to talk again. Lucas stood up, making you roll off his lap. He picked up the paint bucket and took a hold of your wrists. Before he did he took the duct tape and slapped a fresh roll over your mouth. "And here's me thinking you had something interestin' to say." He kicked open the door and once again dragged you through the black light-lit rooms. You looked over your shoulder and down into the yard, hoping to see someone. Zach, Ethan, Zoe, hell, even Mia. Anyone that was on your side. 

Lucas dumped you into a room you hadn't been in before. Or maybe you had, there were so many rooms in this place you couldn't tell. The room was empty, save for a dilapidated couch and some mannequins in the corner, and it looked like the black lights were more concentrated in here. The paint on your clothes flowed brightly. You looked up at him from your position on the ground. He dropped the bucket of paint, some of it splashing over the side and onto the floor. Behind the door was a cabinet. It was the only door in the room, and Lucas was blocking it, so you couldn't try plan an escape route. Lucas closed the cabinet and turned around. He had a long cable of black rope in his hands. "Now," Lucas said, stalking over to you, making sure to shut the door tight, "You ain't gonna leave again." He almost laughed. You shivered again, this time not from the cold, but fear. It'd been a while since you felt fear around Lucas. Usually it was annoyance. He grabbed you by the shirt and pulled you towards him. You shook yourself hoping to stop him from tying the rope around you. It didn't work, and he wrapped it around your arms and abdomen. He tied a bow when he was done over your stomach. You looked up at Lucas with wide eyes. "Hmm, what's this called again?" You looked down as his hands on your hips. "BDSM? Never really been into that kinky shit, but I don't know now..." He said. You shook your head to tell him to back off. Lucas leaned down to your chest, which was rising and falling rapidly. You could feel his hot breath on your skin. He slowly opened his mouth and placed his tongue on your sweating skin. Your muffled screams filled the room. Lucas licked a long line from your chest up to your chin. You had squeezed your eyes shut to try and imagine this wasn't happening. Lucas whistled sharply. You didn't open your eyes, which was both an advantage and disadvantage. One one hand you didn't know what Lucas was doing, but on the other hand you didn't know what Lucas was fucking doing. "Unless you wanna say something worthwhile, I suggest you shut up." Lucas said. You could feel his saliva dripping down your neck. The sensation was like nothing you'd felt before, but it didn't mean it was a good one. You felt gross. You swallowed hard and opened your eyes. Lucas was eyeing you up, like a wild animal that caught his prey. You took a deep breath as Lucas leaned in again. You wiggled around as he placed his mouth at the side of the duct tape. He slowly peeked it off with his teeth, making sure to take his time. Your lips quickly heeled from the last time due to the infection, but the strong tape reopened the cuts. Lucas leaned back and held the tape in between his teeth. You gulped down the heavy, hot air in the room. The musky atmosphere mixed with the terrifying uncertainty Lucas brought made you sweat. Once your mouth was heeled Lucas spat out the tape. He slid his hands from your hips onto your thighs. Alarm bells went off in your head. "Stop!" You said. Your voice was croaky. Lucas actually did stop about halfway down, just under the duct tape on your jeans. He took a pocket knife out of his hoodie (how much random shit did he carry around!?) and cut the zip ties on your ankles. He returned his hands to your thighs and pressed his thumbs into the inside of your legs and spread them apart. "Lucas! Fucking stop!" You screamed. Lucas laughed, but it wasn't like his normal, manic laugh. This one was low, almost under his breath. Your heart rate sped up. Lucas crawled in between your legs, his hips nearly touching yours. "H-Hey, get away!!" You tried to get your legs up to your chest, but he held onto your thighs with an iron grip. You struggled in the rope as he placed his hands on either side of you. His eyes were hungry. He suddenly crashed his lips into yours. You screamed and protested as he kissed you. It was bad enough him doing it behind duct tape, but now it was for real, and you hated it. He slipped his tongue out of his mouth and ran it along your own. You wouldn't open it, not for him, not ever. You couldn't back away since you were pressed against the wall. Lucas sneakily took the pocket knife again and slowly stuck it into your side. You knew what he was doing, but you wouldn't give in. You were determined not to let him have his way. When the knife broke your skin and blood dripped out, your lips still wouldn't budge. You were quite proud of yourself. Lucas knew this wasn't working. He took the knife out of your side and dropped it. He took the same hand and pinched your nose so you couldn't breath. You would rather pass out that make out with Lucas, but if you did you'd have no control over what he did to you. You eventually had to gasp for air and Lucas took full advantage. He slipped his tongue into your mouth at an agonisingly slow pace. If you weren't yourself, you would've told him to hurry up. Lucas let out a sigh through his nose as his tongue started exploring your mouth. You whimpered, not knowing what to do. As if someone else was controlling your mouth, your tongue started moving too. It had to be the knife that Lucas jammed into your side again. You whimpered as he kissed you. It was hot, and wet, and hungry. Lucas didn't seem like he was going to be stopping anytime soon. Lucas cruised his hands to your ass. You again tried to move your legs into a better position try and kick him off again. Lucas rolled his hips into yours to stop you. You cried out to stop him but you seemed to forget his tongue was in your mouth. Lucas moaned lightly and somehow deepened the kiss, moving slower and teasingly. Your bottom lip quivered as his tongue rolled over yours almost delicately. He was doing this on purpose, to test you, to see what you'd do. Your heartbeat was going a million miles an hour and your mind felt dazed. You thought, if you just did something, he'd pull his usual "woohoo sweetheart yer fuckin' great" act and leave you to rot for another few hours. That was better than taking this any further. You experimentally moved your tongue against his, your lip still shaking. Lucas squeezed your ass hard and giggled into your mouth. You were sitting there, full on making out with Lucas, but tried to picture him as someone else. Maybe Chris Hemsworth? You did like a good blond man now and again. Your eyes were glued shut once more as you tried to transport yourself to another place. Lucas' pace picked up, and the animalistic hunger returned. You tried to keep up with him as best you could. Just appease him, you thought, and it'd be over soon. What surprised you both was the moan that came from your throat. It sounded like someone else made the noise, someone that definitely wasn't you, because you definitely weren't enjoying this. Were you? Lucas pulled away, a bridge of saliva connecting you to each other. "Well shit, I knew you'd come around." You face was flushed red and the oppressing heat of the room was making your breathing harder and every lungful of air more welcome. Lucas trailed his fingers across the buckle of your belt. Your eyes widened as he undid it. "No, n-no wait, stop it!" You demanded. Lucas messed with the top button of your jeans. You bit your bottom lip as he stared at you. "Are you sure?" He teased. Were you? You shook your head of any nasty thoughts. Lucas undid the button. "Wai-" Lucas pulled the zipper down, never breaking eye contact. "We shouldn't- Y-you shouldn't-" Lucas saw the hesitation in your face. He smirked and yanked your jeans down. Your face went on fire as he slowly took them off of your legs. Once they slipped off your ankles he threw them behind you. You didn't even try to kick him at this point. Lucas was finally getting what he wanted, getting to show you how he felt about you. He didn't know if the injection was wearing off yet but he didn't care. He felt up your legs from your ankles to your hips. He watched as your breathing sped up. You wanted this, he wanted this. Finally, after years of the odds stacked against him he was getting to spend the night with a woman he truly cared for. Lucas took a gentle hold of your underwear and began to pull it down--

"Lucas, you piece of shit, answer me!" You yelled from behind him. Lucas was standing at the cabinet, rope in hand. He turned to you. The duct tape was hanging off the side of your mouth. You looked angry, and annoyed. Lucas blinked. How did you get the tape off your mouth? More importantly, weren't you two just..? Lucas looked at the rope he was holding. A hallucination. His knuckles turned white as he gripped it tightly. Those fucking injections. It was rare they caused a serious hallucination, but when they did, they sure as hell felt real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> those damn hallucinations (≖ ͜ʖ≖)


	16. Chapter 16

You'd figured out that if you squeezed enough spit through your mouth and onto the tape, it would loosen the glue. That's how you got the duct tape off your mouth. Once it hung from the corner of your lips you wiped your face on the shoulder of your shirt to get rid of excess saliva. Lucas had been standing at the cabinet he opened, mindlessly searching for something for a while. He looked like a zombie with his arms outstretched in the metal furniture. "Lucas?" You called. No answer. "Hey, Lucas!" You started to get annoyed. "Lucas, you piece of shit, answer me!" Lucas turned around, snapping out of whatever dance he seemed to have been in. His expression was blank. He held a long piece of rope in his hands. Great, he was probably going to tie you up. His expression went from nothing, to confusion, then annoyance. "What? Wait, how the hell'd you get the tape off your mouth?" You rolled your eyes. He approached you with the rope in hand. He took the tape off you face and watched spit fall from it. He threw it aside and started wrapping the rope around your arms and abdomen tightly. He was rough with it, like he was taking something out on you. "What are you doing now?" "What the hell does it look like? Y'always seem to slip away, so I'm gonna make sure that don't happen." You glared at him as he finished tying the rope around you with a bow. "There, 'specially for you, princess." He snarled. He was nastier than usual. "Who could fucking blame me for wanting to leave." You said under your breath, but just loud enough for Lucas to hear. You half hoped he did. "What?" "All you do is taunt me about killing my friends, which you actually did, make stupid jokes, and try to molest me every two goddamn seconds." You spat. You'd had enough, you were fed up with his games, of this whole place. If you didn't know any better you could've sworn Lucas looked hurt. He turned away from you, paused, then started chuckling. "You, you're lucky I even kept you alive." You scoffed. "Please, without me you'd have nothing to beat your dick off to at night." You'd never insulted someone so harshly before, but in your eyes, Lucas deserved it. The man stood there, astonished at your words, although never showing it on his outwardly expression. Lucas still has the crazed but calm demeanour. He couldn't believe you were saying these things. Usually he has a thick skin, but when the nasty insults were coming from you... Without another word he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him loudly. You winced at the noise. A small bubble of guilt started to build up in your stomach but you ignored it. After what he did, he should be able to take your harsh words. 

•

Zoe didn't know where she was going. She felt the rough, wet wood underneath her move as she was being dragged along. The last thing she remembers is going to call the trailer, before being hit over the head. Her eyelids were heavy when she tried to open them to the moonlit dock. "What..?" Zoe tried moving around but her arms ached as they were tied above her head. She looked up and saw Lucas, quiet and focused, dragging her along the wooden walkway. "Lucas? What the hell..." He didn't say a word as he kicked a door in behind him. Zoe groaned as he tied her already bound wrists to a pipe on the wall. Looking beside her, she saw Mia, looking dazed and afraid. She was also tied up. "What are you doing?" Zoe asked. Lucas took a step back. "Oh, I'm stoppin' you from fucking everything up, is all." He spat. Zoe glared at him. "You be a good little sister now and stay quiet. Not that anyone would hear you scream, besides psycho bitch over here." He gestured to Mia, who was whimpering softly. Zoe became furious. "Where are you going!?" She shouted as Lucas turned to leave. "I'm gonna give our friend Ethan a call."

•

"Do you think he made them himself?" Zach referenced the key cards. "I don't know. I wouldn't put it past him, he seems to have too much creativity and time on his hands." Ethan said as he slid the red and blue cards through the slots. A beep sounded, nearly being drowned out my the booming music coming from somewhere in the complex, and Ethan opened the door. "Do you think my friend is still up there?" Zach asked. Ethan didn't stop walking up the stairs to answer. "Maybe. Guess we're going to find out." The two men looked curiously at the words "Let's party" painted across the door at the top of the stairs. Zach remembered Lucas talking about an art project. Pushing the door open, they came to a room lit with black lights. In the middle was a single chair and a TV. Ethan cautiously sat down in the chair, with Zach standing behind him. The TV came to life with static and Lucas appeared, very close to the camera, trying to adjust it. "Ethan. E-than. And we got another guest. Hello Zachary." Zach frowned. "Ethan, Zach-- hold on, hold on, hold on. I got something for you." Lucas held up a finger to the screen and he searched for something. He eventually picked what looked like a small person, decayed and shrivelled, and wrapped in wire. "What the hell is that?" Zach asked, freaked out. Ethan shushed him. "Looky, looky what I got. You know what this is for?" Lucas started to get angry. "You know what Zoe wants to do with this?" Lucas leaned back and made a sound that resembled a howl. "She thinks this thing is special." Lucas put the... thing back on the ground. "No, that ain't special. This-- this right here is special." Lucas held up his left hand, while gripping a pliers in the other. He clamped the pliers down on the nail of his ring finger. "You see, not everybody wants to turn back the clock." He pulled the nail off, causing both the men to cringe. Immediately Lucas went for his index finger and pulled that nail off too. "What? What, Eveline?" Lucas turned to someone off camera. Zach couldn't stop thinking about how insane this guy actually was. "I'm just trying to show them. I'm just trying to show them that not everybody wants to go back to how things were." Lucas was enraged. Zach looked down at Ethan, who was glued to the screen. "Zoe's a stupid bitch! She doesn't understand that I don't wanna go back to how things were before my father found y'all." Lucas continued to argue with Eveline. He adjusted himself and turned back to the screen. "Not everybody wants to turn back the clock." Zach thought that Lucas was trying to convince himself, as well as everyone else. "So--so Ethan, Zach? You can, uh-- you can, um, crawl around underneath that filthy, rotten house all you want looking for them ingredients." It looked like Lucas was calming down. "But you ain't gonna find a goddamn thing." Lucas brought the camera closer to him. "You wanna make that serum? Ooh, baby. You're gonna have to come through me. You hear?" Lucas smiled. "Well, come on. What do you say?" The video cut out. Suddenly a blast came from behind the screen, sending shards of glass flying towards the pair. They shielded themselves from the explosion, but Zach could feel a piece of two lodged in his arm. "Fuck." Ethan said as they picked the glass out of their arms. 

•

You'd fallen asleep since Lucas had left you alone. It was hard to do since there was nothing but hard concrete to lie on but you managed to do it. You were awoken by Lucas storming into the room. He kicked you, although not as hard as he could've. "Get up, we gotta go." Lucas ordered. You groaned and opened your eyes. You were having a nice dream, about McDonald's and Burger King. "What?" You breathed. Lucas grabbed you by the waist and picked you up. "Move it." He said. He was more cold than usual, and less animated. You raised an eyebrow. "Why? Where--" Lucas spun you around and pushed you towards the door. "Hey, asshole!" You snapped. "I ain't got time for talkin'. Move it!" He repeated. You rolled your eyes and started walking. "I don't even know where I'm going." You said under your breath. Lucas grabbed the rope at your back. "Let me guide you, my lady." Lucas said. He pushed you back through the rooms you'd seen many times. They all looked the same, you didn't know how even Lucas knew his way. He led you down a set of stairs that had a door on the end. He opened it up, and shoved you out. You were back in the yard. Confused, you looked back at him. The door was very well hidden amongst the bushes. Lucas stood in the doorway. "What? This is it?" You said. "Were you expecting a romantic date?" Lucas said. You glared at him. He took a hold of the rope at your front and pulled on the bow he tied. The rope fell around your ankles, and as you looked up at Lucas he took a switchblade from his pocket and cut the zip ties off your wrists and ankles. "Before you get all excited," Lucas said, standing back up, "I think you're overdue another, uh, episode, don't you agree?" He said, a cruel look in his eyes. "And what about your friend Zach? Him too?" Lucas laughed as he roughly grabbed your neck. Your hands flew to his own, trying to get him off of you. "Luckily for you, I know just what to trigger it." Lucas smiled as Eveline appeared beside him. "She told me about what she wants." Eveline looked up at you, an evil smile spreading across her pale face. Your eyes darted between them. "So, you gotta choose. Me or Zach? Clancy's out of the running now." Lucas giggled. He threw you back onto the grass. Your hand flew to your neck, rubbing it as you gasped for air. "I'm gonna make it even easier for you." Lucas walked towards you, Eveline in tow. "Fire 'em up, Evie." Black tendrils crawled from the little girl towards you, snaking up your body. You screamed. "W-what the fuck!?" You tried to shuffle backwards. The black strings tightened their grip on your. Lucas looked at your struggling form, laughing as he walked back into the door, slamming it shut. You could feel the mold sinking into your skin. Eveline slowly approached your face. "Lucas or Zach?" She said. You stared up at her with wide eyes. You could feel your mind losing its grip on reality, the change from normal to monster started more quickly than usual. Any fear was replaced with anger and that intangible blood lust that came with this form. You roared as your normal self was kicked to the back of your mind and Eveline took over. You could hear her giggling and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared. 

•

Zach felt nauseous as he picked the last piece of glass from his forearm. The blood that dropped from the wounds soon stopped and he was reminded once again he was infected. He sighed and turned to Ethan. "Now what?" Zach asked. Before Ethan had the chance to answer, Zach grabbed his stomach and hunched over. "I, I don't feel so good..." He said. He could feel the familiar churning in his stomach. A cold sweat broke out on him as he realised what was happening. "Zach?" Ethan asked. A secret door opened behind the TV. Zach looked at it, then to Ethan. "Go, Ethan... J-Just run, kill that son of a bitch." Zach groaned. Ethan hesitated before running through the door, shutting it behind him. Zach grabbed the edge of the chair for support as he fell to the ground. "Ugh... ah, fuck..." Zach's oesophagus went on fire as he felt foreign movement within his body. His skin turned a sickly white and his eyes went black. Eveline stood in the corner, thoroughly enjoying the scene. "Zach," she stepped closer to him slowly, "kill."

Zach's neck craned up to the ceiling as he let out a blood-curdling scream. He coughed and a few giant flies whizzed out, circling him. He got to his feet and crashed through the door. He looked down through the fence to the yard and saw you, scrambling to your feet. "Rip her head off." Eveline whispered. Zach sprinted down the stairs, ready to do exactly what Eveline wanted. 

Your black eyes looked at the heavy metal door and saw Zach. You bared your teeth at him as Eveline appeared beside you. "Rip his head off." She said. You screamed and took a stance, ready to fight. Zach stood for a moment at the door, breathing heavily. You both saw red as you looked at each other. Once loyal friends, you now wanted nothing more than to rip each others guts out and eat them like it was your first meal in days. With a primal roar Zach ran towards you, and you were ready. Your head pulsed with anger as he grabbed your shoulders. He shouted, deadly insects spilling out of his mouth and crawling onto your body. You grunted and grabbed his own shoulders, flipping him onto the ground with minimal effort. The bugs Zach sprayed onto you were eating into your skin. Due to your rapid healing, they didn't do much. You stepped on his neck, pressing your foot down hard. You could hear his neck snap and you smiled viciously. "Die, you fucking asshole!" You screamed. Your voice was rough and scratchy. Unfortunately, Zach also had a rapid healing ability, so breaking bones wasn't going to do any damage. Zach laughed at you. "Getting worked up?" His voice sounded robotic. He grabbed your ankle and pulled you onto the ground, snapping your bone. You screamed and Zach climbed on top of you. He grabbed your jaw, digging his nails harshly into your skin. Blood trickled from the indents he made. He pulled your jaw down and came down to you face. "Accept her gift, bitch!" He said and started vomiting bugs into your mouth. They clawed down your throat as you screamed and shouted muffled insults at him. You shoved your hand into his face, trying to gouge his eyes out. You interrupted Zach's never ending stream of insects by kneeing him in the stomach. He flinched which gave you a chance to throw him off of you. You coughed and wiped a centipede off your face as you stood up. Eveline watched on in amusement from the roof of Zoe's trailer. "Finish it." She said. Your veins felt like they were full of fire once you heard Eveline's order. Your hands filled with black oil that was leaking from the pores in your skin. It dripped down, solidifying rapidly like the formation of a stalactite. From your hand formed a long, disgusting black whip. You growled and looked at Zach who was still getting off the ground. You wasted to time in throwing the whip down at him. A deep, long laceration formed on Zach's back. Black mold filled the wound, keeping it open. Zach screamed when he got to his feet. "Give up!" You cried, swinging the rope above your head and bringing it back down onto Zach. You cut through his shoulder, stumbling him. Black tears spilled down his face. "No!" Zach threw his arms in front of him, sending a hoard of giant flies towards you. They attacked your face, trying to take your eyes out like you did to Zach. You tried swatting them away. You blindly swung the whip again, hitting something. The flies dropped to the ground immediately after you hit it. You looked in front of you and saw Zach's head rolling towards you. You dropped your arms when it hit your feet. The whip recoiled into your hand once again. You bent down and picked Zach's head up by the hair. You looked into his eyes. They were transforming back from the black, inky colour or the regular white and green irises. His face had the expression of shock. You laughed, but it soon faded out as you felt the power Eveline gave you draining from your body. You nearly collapsed when she disappeared once again. Your mind restored itself once your skin and eyes changed back, and the black tendrils of mold that encased your body left you. You looked around the yard, trying to remember what happened. When you saw Zach's body a wave of shock bolted through you. Feeling you were holding something, you lifted your hand up and looked into the eyes of your best friend's decapitated head. Blood and mold dropped from where it was cut off. You screamed loudly and dropped it. The thud his head made when it hit the ground made your stomach churn. You bent over, grabbing your stomach. "Oh-- oh my GOD!" You said. You started vomiting onto the grass. You noticed dead insects were mixed into the bile. Everything about the fight came rushing back to you. It was so much that you fell back onto your ass, puke dripping from your mouth. You lay back on the grass, staring up into the night sky. Eveline's giggle ran through your mind. Tears started falling down your face, and the sour taste of vomit was prevalent in your mouth. You were completely and utterly disgusted at what you'd done.


	17. Chapter 17

Jack steadied the boat as it came to a stop. "Don't do it, Dad!" Lucas cried. Jack rolled his eyes and laughed. "Aw, c'mon now Lucas. You gotta learn how to swim sometime." Lucas' knees shook as he stood in the boat. "I don't wanna!" Lucas protested. They were out in the bayou, in a particularly shallow spot. Jack hopped out of the boat into the water. "I told you there are no gators 'round this place." Jack said, smiling reassuringly. Lucas shook his head. "No, Dad!" Jack sighed. The water came up to only his knees, but to Lucas the water looked ten feet deep. "Lucas, how old are you?" "I'm seven." "And does every other boy in your class know how to swim?" "Well, uh-" "And do you want to be the only boy in your class who can't when y'all go to that trip to the water park in May?" Lucas looked at his feet. "Exactly. Now, c'mere, boy. It ain't that deep, and I won't let you go."

•

When your head smacked off a hard surface you woke up. The stinging pain made you groan. Putting a hand to your head you tried to ease it. You opened your eyes, and you were face to face with Zoe. She looked worried and relived, if that was possible. "Zoe..?" You used your elbows to support yourself as you sat up. You heard a laugh beside you. "Well now, the gang's all here." Lucas was slowly pacing the room. You looked over to him. "What did you do?" You knew he had something to do with whatever happened. "A thank you would be nice, considerin' I found you lyin' next to a pile of your own vomit out in there yard, and brought you to safety." He smirked. You put a hand on your forehead as the memories came back again. Your cheeks were still wet with tears. "You really finished Zach off good. Don't know if he can come back from that." Lucas praised. You felt fresh tears welling up in your eyes. "That fucker Ethan ruined the surprise I had planned for him, so now I gotta go," Lucas crouched down beside you, "and I do believe you still gotta give Evie an answer to a certain question." You grimaced as he came close to your face. Zoe looked on, confused, bing unable to help you. "I just thought I'd be kind enough to let you say goodbye to your friends before we leave." "What do you mean?" Lucas quickly scooped you up into his arms. "This place is about to go to shit." He said simply. You looked back at Zoe, pushing against Lucas chest. He squeezed his grip on you painfully tight. As he carried you back out the door you yelled. "Zoe, make it out of here!" You said. She wanted to reply but Lucas kicked the door shut. You hit Lucas as he carried you back down the docks. "Y'ever been in a mine?" He asked randomly. "Let me go! I've had enough of this!" You shouted. Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough." He took a sudden turn and whacked your head off a wooden post. You yelled and dropped your head back; dazed, but not quite unconscious. "Damn, your skull's gettin' tougher." Lucas said as he gave you another swing and smacked your head against the hard wood. 

•

The sound of loud, echoing alarms woke you up. Your face was resting on a cold concrete floor. You held your head as you sat up. You were going to make sure that was the last time anyone ever knocked you out. Looking ahead of you, you saw Lucas frantically running between various computers and other strange pieces of technology on some metal desks. The room was dimly lit by a single lightbulb on the ceiling. "What's going on?" You asked, referring mainly to the obnoxious beeping of the alarm. Lucas laughed to himself. "Oh, baby, it's all about to go down. This is what I've been waitin' for!" He said. You pushed yourself off the floor. No restraints. You looked down at your unrestricted body, a bit surprised. "What?" You said. "Don't you worry your pretty lil' head about it." Lucas said dismissively. "Why aren't I all tied up?" You asked, confused you were sans handcuffs or something. Lucas smiled brightly at you, pausing from his work. "Because, Evie gave you a choice, didn't she? Me, Zach, or Clancy. To be honest I was just goin' along with it at the beginning to stop her from rippin' me to shreds at any given moment," his casualness about death was terrifying, "but then I thought, 'Well shit, I might just get some benefits outta this.'" You were furious. "Benefits!? Was killing another person a benefit for you!?" You shouted. Lucas shrugged. "Eh, he was boring me anyway." Your face heated up in anger. "And Zach? What about him, huh!? You made me kill my best friend some stupid game!?" Lucas ignored your roaring self. "It don't matter anyway. You're kinda stuck here with me. And, as a massive bonus, I get to keep you." He smiled devilishly. You were stunned. Did he really just say that? You tried to think of words, mouth slightly agape. You wanted to scream him down right then and there. You didn't care if he could turn around and simply snap your neck, break you in half, or do whatever else he wanted to kill you. You were pissed off, and done with this stupid plantation. 

"You... you absolute idiot!" Lucas dropped the metal tool he was working with. "You don't get to keep me, you don't get to do anything with me. I am going to go the fuck home and forget about this place, about you, and about all this goddamned mold!" You screamed. Lucas looked at you, a mix of amusement and shock painted on his face. You stormed towards the door at the back of the room. Documents were scattered on the unnecessary amount of desks. You would've read them if you weren't trying to escape. Even though you were brave enough to scream at him, you were still scared out of your wits that you were actually going to be stuck with him. "What about Eveline's 'stupid game', huh!? You think she's just gonna let you go without making a choice!?" Lucas said, anger in his own voice. The dangerous amount of sharp tools around him made sweat start to form. Juggling the handle on the door it was of course locked. But if you were going to die by challenging Lucas, you were going to go out fighting. "You know what, Lucas?" Your sweaty palm tightened around the door handle. 

"I choose my own damn self."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short but holy moly I am so busy lately. Also I wanted to use this as a filler space to really get things going in the next chapter


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super short but I haven't updated in a while so I wanted to get this out to you. I've had a really hectic week so I couldn't write as often as I'd want to. Hope you like it, though! Also, this story has been published for a month today. Happy birthday to us :)

"Mama, what are they gonna do to me?" Lucas clung onto his mother's hand. Marguerite flattened her mouth into a stern line, then gave her son a reassuring smile. "Nothin', baby, they're just gonna... take a picture of your head, is all." Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Like in school?" Marguerite paused. "Yeah, yeah. Like I'm school." "Lucas Baker?" The doctor called, holding a clipboard with notes on it. "Here." Marguerite said as she got off the waiting room chair. Lucas jumped up beside her. "Mama, you ain't Lucas, I am!" He said, a childish grin on his face. Marguerite chuckled a bit. "I know, baby. Come on then." Marguerite guided Lucas out of the waiting room and followed the doctor down the cold, clinical hallways. 

•

Lucas stared at you as if he was daring you to try and leave. You couldn't anyway, the door was locked. The only other option was to try and ram it down, probably fail, and have Lucas laugh his ass off at your crumbling image of self righteousness. When you heard distant gunshots you knew your opportunity was coming. Lucas glanced at the other door across the room where the gunshots were coming from. "If we don't get out now we're both fucked." You said. You didn't know who it was, but gunshots were never a good thing. With Zach and Clancy dead, and Ethan god-knows-where, you didn't know if you could trust whoever was firing the shots. Lucas turned from you and started packing up the random devices he had on the desks into a big, black case. "This place, is fuckin' crazy." He muttered. In a weird twist, Lucas turned to you and tossed you some keys. You luckily caught them. "I'm fuckin' crazy. I ain't never gonna change." He stopped packing away his stuff and turned his head over his shoulder. "Just leave. May as well, you know, if we're both fucked anyway." You couldn't really believe what you were hearing. A minute ago he wanted to keep you trapped with him forever, and now Lucas literally gave you the keys to your freedom. When you made brief eye contact you could see it again, the calm normalness that sometimes arose in him. Without another word you put the keys in the lock and opened the door. You didn't want to risk the full on psycho Lucas coming back. You paused for a second before closing the door behind you. Lucas looked at you, expression blank, his tired eyes almost looking peaceful. You gave him a small nod before shutting the door. You let out a sigh and looked at the keys in your hand. With the thoughts you were having, you had to be the full on psycho. Without letting an internal debate start you chucked the keys under the gap in the door. "Goodbye, Lucas. You psycho fuck." You whispered and turned around to leave this hellhole once and for all. 

•

Lucas gripped the edges of the metal desk tightly as he watched the keys slide under the door. For a moment there was silence, then footsteps, and you were gone. Lucas laughed to himself. "Good luck, I guess." He gave himself a small smile, then started to whistle a tune. 

•

Exploring your way through the mines wasn't easy. With all the ladders and unstable cliff edges, it actually made you respect the fact Lucas must've carried you over these obstacles. You could hear the feint groan of molded in the caverns behind you. Ignoring them, you carried on, eventually climbing your way to what looked like a makeshift doorway. There were panels of wood scattered around the hallway it led to. When the groaning and wailing of the monsters got louder you took a glance behind you before entering the passage. You piled the wood up in the doorway to fill it with a sort of door. You knew the molded had particular trouble with doors. Turning around you cautiously walked into the hall. The bricked walls of whatever room you'd wandered into looked like they were going to crumble at any given moment. Your foot hit something as you examined the room. Looking down, you found it was a doll. You picked it up and turned it around in your hands. It had a blue dress and black hair... a strange resemblance to Eveline. You frowned and put it back on the ground. You were hoping you'd seen the last of her, but the doll seemed like some sort of horrific foreshadowing. As you left the small room you can to another, one with a couch and sink, and a small table with a lamp on it. On the table was a photo. It was upside down, with "E-001" written on the back. You flipped it over and saw a picture of an old woman. You raised an eyebrow. "Who's that..?" You looked to your left and saw another passageway. You'd never been overly claustrophobic, but this place was making you. You set the picture back down and carried on. As you climbed a creaky wooden stairs in the darkness, the door at the top opened ominously. Your heart pounded in fear. The original terrifying feelings you'd felt when you discovered this place were coming back. As you entered the door, you had a grim realisation. You were back in the house. With a frustrated sigh you made a loud groan yourself. "I really, really hate this fucking place."

The hallway of the house isn't somewhere you'd been before. Though, you could still tell it was the Baker's place from the framed photos on the wall and similar decor. There was a phone sitting on a cupboard. You hoped it would ring, but you knew Zoe was literally tied up at the moment. You clenched your fists an walked on. No, you thought to yourself. I'm so close, I can't stop now. 

The walls were smashed to pieces and the rooms in tatters. You could tell a fight went down from the blood splatters up the walls and on the floors. An axe lay buried into the floorboard. You thought about picking it up, maybe having an extra means to defend yourself, but you shook your head and carried on. 

Opening a door and through more hallways you found yourself in the guest house once again. "Jesus..." you mumbled as you spotted more blood beside the door to the living room. You peered in and saw the tv was still playing a constant stream of static. You looked to the couch, remembering when you found Zach in his half-dead state, and how you blacked out. You gripped the doorframe tightly before letting go. You were so close, if you could just get through this house you could get back to your car. If it was still there. Zach's car, technically. As you walked through the kitchen you thought of what you were going to say to the police. Would they even believe you? Surely they had to. Ethan would back you up. And Zoe. But... she was stuck somewhere, and Ethan was nowhere to be found. You took a deep breath as you stood at the front door. You fixed your hand around the knob and pulled it open. The morning air hit you with a welcoming warmth. You stepped out into the sun, the wooden porch whining under your weight. You took a deep breath and a quick glance back into the hallway of the house. You shut the door, leaving it behind forever.


	19. Chapter 19

"It looks lovely on you, darlin'." Marguerite said as she continued knitting. Lucas practically beamed as he showed off his new LCS hoodie. He shoved his hands into the pockets and smiled. "Grabbed the last one 'fore they took the boxes away." Marguerite raised an eyebrow. "They were free?" Lucas' smile dropped. "Yeeeaaah..." Marguerite chuckled as she shook her head. "Stealing is wrong, Lucas." The teenager's grind returned. "Can't believe it's my second last year in high school." Marguerite nodded. "Neither can I, you're growin' so fast. Soon Zoe'll be outta school and your daddy and I will be all alone again." She feigned sadness towards her son. Although deep down she meant it. 

•

Mud stained your shirt as you climbed over the ledge. You tried to wipe it off as you stood up but it was no use. The shirt you were wearing was beyond saving. The stain only added to the blood and mold that mixed into the fibres of it. Your right sleeve was also torn off and you still wore it as a bandage around your long-healed wound. The material of your jeans on your left leg was ripped in a jagged line from where you scraped it in one encounter. Overall, you looked like shit, and the silver duct tape on your left thigh didn't help at all. You marched on through the overgrown path. "This was the way... yeah, I remember..." You motivated yourself forward while you tried to picture the route back. Soon, you felt the hard wooden boards of wood under your feet. A memory of them leading to the house came back to you. Hope beating in your heart, you jogged forward. Soon enough you were outside the main building. You didn't think you'd ever be happy to see it. A small smile plastered itself on your face as you sighed in relief. Looking to the right you saw the way out of here. Thoughts of escaping and telling people what happened went through your head. What would you tell your parents? What would you tell Zach's mother? You stopped walking as the realisation that you'd have to tell his mother he was dead hit you. And you killed him. You ran your hands up your face and through your hair. Stay focused, you thought, I'm nearly out of here. You pushed yourself to move forward. As you stepped through the twigs and leaves you heard something. It sounded like... like a helicopter? You looked up and sure enough about ten seconds later a black helicopter flew over you. Your eyes widened as it circled the area. Maybe they could help you? You didn't know how to signal them, but getting to a clearing would probably help. You ran forward to try and find an open space. When you did, you waited for the helicopter to circle back before jumping around like a mad woman. Hopefully they didn't think you were insane like the Bakers. A thought that made you nearly freeze up was if they found out you were infected. Would they kill you? Who are they, anyway? What if you were signalling your own death? The helicopter seemed to spot you because it halted its circling and came towards you. You were half elated, half scared. It lowered itself enough above you to send the trees, bushes and your hair whizzing around from the wind of the propellers. You covered your eyes from the dust it swept up. Two long ropes dropped from the sides of it and you peeked through your arms to see what was going on. Two men dressed in black descended the ropes. You noticed they were carrying assault rifles. Your heart stopped. What if this was how you were going to die? Escaping the most traumatic experience of your life just to get shot down in a swamp? You swallowed your fear as one of the men walked over to you. He had a black helmet on with a visor you couldn't see through. Both of the men had bullet proof gear on. Were they the military? You glanced up and saw an emblem on the side of the helicopter. 

Umbrella. 

But, something was different. Instead of the red and white pattern, it was blue and white. The one from the photo. "Ma'am, are you alright?" The man in front of you said. You slowly lowered your arms to look at him. Fuck it, you thought. "N-no, can you get me the fuck out of here!?" You yelled over the noisy helicopter above. The man leaned into his shoulder to talk to a walkie-talkie. "I got a survivor here. Repeat, one survivor. I'm bringing her up." He let go of the device and offered his hand to you. "We'll get you to safety." You had no other choice but to trust him. Well, you could run, but you doubted you'd get very far. It was a long drive to the town, let alone a walk, and you were exhausted. You looked behind him at the other man who looked like a statue, still standing at the rope. You took a deep breath and put your hand in his. He walked you back to the rope and wrapped his arm tightly around your waist. "Hang on, ma'am." You put your arms around him as he tied the rope around his leg and tugged on the rope. You ascended off the ground and slowly approached the helicopter. Your heat was still going a million miles an hour. When you got in, the man let you go and without looking around you sat down at a seat on the other edge. From there you could see the Baker's estate. You got a better view once the helicopter flew upwards. "No other survivors?" You asked flatly. No amount of hoping would bring Zach back. How could someone recover from having their head ripped clean off? That killed even the molded. 

"I mean, there's me, I guess."

You froze in your position. Slowly, as if turning your head any faster would make him disappear, you looked into Zach's eyes. Your mouth hung open as you stared at him. He was smiling, sitting in the chair across from you. You didn't even stop to check for anyone else in the helicopter because you wanted to see the damage that'd been done to the place. You tried to say something, but the words kept getting caught in your throat. Instead you launched yourself at him, engulfing him in a hug. You began crying into his shoulder as he held onto you tightly. "I thou- I didn't- I thought you were dead." You sobbed. Zach laughed softly as he comforted you. "It's ok. I'm not, but my neck is still pretty sore." You leaned back to look at him again. His neck did look bruised, but any trace of him being decapitated wasn't there. There wasn't even a scar. "But- How? I cut your head off." You said, confused. Zach sighed. "Yeah, I remember that. It was extremely painful." You gave him an apologetic look as you wiped your eyes. "But we are some sort of super human freaks, right? These guys found me stuffed into a crate in the mines. I think Lucas might've done it, can't remember. They told me my body and head were in separate boxes." You cringed at the morbid image. "As soon as they put me together on a stretcher, my neck started reattaching itself to my body. No scars, cuts or anything! Pretty neat." He felt around the bruised section of his neck. "Now no one will know you tried to kill me." You gave him an ashamed smile. "Wait, Lucas stuffed you into a crate? What the fuck." You wondered what he could possibly want with Zach before you let it go. It was all over now, you were going home. And you wouldn't have to worry about Lucas or any of the Bakers ever again. Except... Zoe. You turned to the man that took you up into the helicopter. "What about the Bakers, did any of them survive?" The man glanced to his friend before looking back at you. "Negative. You two are the only ones our team found." You sat back in your seat and looked off into the estate. It was growing further away, when something caught your eye. A huge, calcified monster was jutting out of the ceiling of the guest house. You wanted to ask so many questions, like what the fuck that thing was, but you decided to just rest for now. Another helicopter suddenly appeared at your side. You and Zach looked over into it. You saw Ethan, and Mia, lying in a stretcher. You gasped. "Ethan!" You called. The blond man's head perked up, looking at you with a surprised expression. He was holding tightly onto Mia's hand as she slept. How she could through the noise, you didn't know, but she'd been through hell longer than you had. Ethan gave you a wave. You smiled, waving to him. Zach also waved, a hopeful brightness about him. As their helicopter sped up and flew out of view, you relaxed back into your seat. Zach and you looked at each other and sighed at the same time. After a small laugh with him you turned your head back out to the horizon. You could still see the sun rising over the trees. The Baker estate was no where to be seen. You remembered the reason why this all started in the first place. "Zach." you said, closing your eyes. Your friend looked at you. 

"That was not worth the views."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you later, survivors.


End file.
